The Pretender
by NeverBeyondRedemption
Summary: Hermione was by no means an expert in Dark Magic, what she needed was someone who was. Gellert Grindelwald, one of the most powerful dark wizards of all time, was certainly no fan of this 'Voldemort'. Maybe they could reach an agreement.
1. Chapter 1

**New Fic, not proof read but my PC is about to pack up and I dont want to lose it. Tell me what you think.**

It had all come to nothing.

Well, not nothing exactly. They were so close, then Snape's memories had revealed that Harry was the last Horcrux. It certainly explained a lot; his unnatural connection with the dark wizard, how he had been able to find the other Horcruxes so easily and how he seemed to share some of Voldemort's abilities.

So the only way to kill Voldemort would be to kill Harry, yet Harry was the only one who could kill Voldemort, which left them in an unfortunate catch twenty-two.

There were, as Hermione had realised in her research after they had lost the Sword of Gryffindor, very few ways to kill a Horcrux, but it only now occurred to her that there may be another solution. Transfer was after all a very different concept to destruction, after all if one could transfer their soul once, could it be transferred again?

Hermione's knowledge of soul magic was limited to the single paragraph she'd been able to find in the library at Grimmauld Place. The two hours that Voldemort had granted them as a reprieve would never be enough to find anything else, even if she knew where to look.

Both boys were looking at her hopefully, she'd never failed to come up with an answer before.

Instead of answering, she turned and made her way down to the great hall. With more time to look around, she recognized for the first time just how devastating the battle had been. What looked like acid burns pitted the walls, several statues had been blasted to dust and one of the portraits tried to put out her smouldering frame with a painted curtain.

Further down into the castle, entire walls had been reduced to rubble and every window blown out. Everything was deserted, but she could hear wailing from somewhere on the ground floor.

She had to take several secret passages to reach the entrance hall; the grand staircase had been petrified. These remained mostly untouched, although she had cast a bubble head charm to make it through the thick smoke filling the one on the third floor.

She found the order of the phoenix in the great hall, or what remained of them. Bodies were lined up in rows along the floor, some moving, some wailing and others ominously still. The survivors huddled around their loved ones, praying or mourning. Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey fretted between patients, assisted by anyone who knew healing spells. Hermione was quick to report to the medi-witch and was delegated to transfiguring bricks into bandages.

It was a moderately tricky task, but once she had found the similarity to focus on, quickly became monotonous. Her mind quickly returned to how to remove the Horcrux from Harry. If only someone was familiar with the magic, Dumbledore seemed to be aware of it, possibly from his darker days with Grindelwald, if only she could ask him.

It hit her like a tonne of bricks.

She dropped her transfigured bandages and apparated away with a crack.

She'd only ever seen Nurmengard in pictures, but they did nothing to capture the reality of the massive fortress. The anti-apparition wards had fallen long before, so Hermione could apparate in short hops from the location of the photos to the front gate.

The doors were ajar, the entrance a tall dark slit in the black stones. Rusted braziers stood cold and empty to either side of the doorway. She illuminated her wand and stepped into the prison.

It was surprisingly simple to find her way to the highest cell. There was an obviously used set of stairs and corridors and so long as she didn't deviate from them, she could make her way steadily upwards without getting lost. It stood to reason that someone had to have been delivering food to the imprisoned Dark Wizard.

When the wards tickled her skin, she knew she was close. Cold blue light flickered from under the doorway in front of her. She paused to brace herself before turning the handle and swinging the door open.

The cell was lit by icy blue fire in brackets on the walls. It was cruelly bright after the darkness of the rest of the castle. Bars separated her from the room's only occupant, who stood facing her, hands raised defensively.

He was young.

That was her first observation. The wizard that faced her bore the same distinctive features as Grindelwald, but couldn't be more than thirty. His icy blond hair was long around his face and almost unrecognisable under a thick layer of dirt but there was no mistaking his oddly coloured eyes. Although his robe was torn and dirty, it had obviously once been well made and the symbol of the hallows was still emblazoned faintly on one shoulder.

'Who are you?' He croaked, his voice hoarse enough to almost disguise his accent.

'Grindelwald?' Hermione asked doubtingly.

'I am. Who are you?' The wizard pressed.

'I'm Hermione. We need your help to defeat Voldemort.'

'Very well, but I want my freedom in exchange.' Grindelwald lounged back against the window seat, his expression one of amusement.

'I am not a fool enough to let you loose on the world again. Help us and I will bring you clean clothes, a proper bed, books to read.' She regarded him as coolly as she could manage, trying not to show how afraid she was talking to one of the most powerful dark wizards of all time.

'Dark Magic can have the most unusual side effects, Miss Granger.' He finally said, Hermione was sure she had never told him her last name. 'This cell is warded against it, I have not touched it since that duel.' Here he paused and looked out the window. 'Yet it is my brother that I miss the most.'

'Albus was my brother – blood sworn. I was convinced he had betrayed me, I realise now that my betrayal was the greater.' The dark wizard finally turned back to face her, approaching the bars so that his odd eyes shone in the light of her wand. 'I will help you, in exchange for an audience with my brother.'

'Voldemort murdered him last year.' Hermione finally whispered. Although she knew intellectually that the man before her was evil, the way his young face crumpled at this made her heart ache for him. He stumbled backwards, catching himself on the wall.

'How?' He croaked.

'He was assassinated by death eaters whilst trying to protect his students.' The Slytherin streak in Hermione knew immediately that she had him. His eyes seemed to flash with a dark fury, and he jerked forwards, grabbing the bars between them.

'Let me out and I'll avenge my brother's death.' He wasn't begging, in fact, Hermione got the distinct impression that he would simply blast his way out of the cell even without a wand if she didn't agree to help him. 'On my magic, my wand is yours if it means destroying the man that killed my brother.'

She nodded and Grindelwald stepped away from the cage as she opened the door.

'Swear it again.' She ordered, surprised when the dark wizard took the wrist she offered. Likewise, his magic reached out and she had to choke down nausea as it mingled with hers. It was twisting darkness, tainted with the sickly sweetness of death, a poison to her pure magical core.

'On my magic, my wand is yours if I can take my revenge on Albus' murderer.' He intoned, staring straight into her eyes. A coil of Hermione's bright magic manifested like a shackle around his wrist and he grimaced as the glow sank into his skin.

'We don't have much time.' She told him honestly once the magic faded. 'I'll explain everything on the way.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Again, unedited/proof read because I just want to make sure it's not only on my computer when it dies it's immenent and inevitable death. Thanks for reading.**

The battle had resumed by the time they returned to Hogwarts; Hermione apparated them into the entrance hall, right into the middle of a battle between a death eater and Luna Lovegood.

Grindelwald tackled them both to one side as soon as they materialised, narrowly dodging a curse from the death eater. Fortunately the distraction was enough that Luna's Pumpkin Head jinx scored a direct hit and it was then relatively easy for Hermione to disarm and stun him. The Ravenclaw witch smiled at them with her usually dreamy expression, taking the wizard beside her well within her stride.

'Gellert Grindelwald, I didn't think I would meet you, can't say I really wanted to though.' She said airily before announcing that she'd last seen Harry in the courtyard. She drifted off in the direction of the nearest group of battling students without so much as a second glance.

The Dark Wizard in question quickly retrieved the stunned death eater's wand and followed her as they wordlessly hurried in the direction of the courtyard. They took cover behind the pendulum of the clock tower to assess the situation. Harry and Ron were duelling Bellatrix, Ginny was teaming up with Neville to fight the Malfoys, McGonagall duelled two less recognisable death eaters at once.

They couldn't see Voldemort from their position, but Grindelwald didn't seem to mind. He fired off a couple of spells at McGonagalls opponents, then inspected his new wand critically.

'It is good to feel magic again, Miss Granger,' He informed her, 'but this wand is Shize.'

Then he tapped his throat with his wand and stepped out into the middle of the battle.

'You are a coward, Lord Voldemort.' Grindelwald's magically amplified voice boomed across the castle grounds. 'You claim to be the greatest Dark Wizard of all time, yet you couldn't face Albus Dumbledore in honest combat.'

Everything had stopped, every duel paused as both sides listened to the new unknown party. She could tell those that recognised him from those that did not; McGonagall whimpered and held her hand to her chest. A death eater with a bleeding nose from his duel with Kingsley hurled a curse towards Grindelwald. It splashed harmlessly against his shield and the Dark Wizard's wand flicked out so quickly that it was a blur. The death eater disintegrated into ashes without a sound.

With the death eater's distracted, Hermione waved frantically at Harry and Ron. They noticed her after several minutes and edged around the courtyard towards her.

'Hermione! We had no idea where you went. What happened?' Harry breathed as he slipped in behind the pendulum.

'Who's that?' Ron whispered at the same time.

'That's Grindelwald.' She continued before Ron could interrupt. 'He was furious when I told him that Voldemort assassinated Dumbledore – remember they were good friends at one point. Anyway, he agreed to help us defeat Voldemort.'

'That's Grindelwald? Isn't he meant to be like, over a hundred?' Ron seemed slightly confused but Hermione had felt his magic and had seen the distinctive eyes.

'I don't know, it's definitely him though. He swore his wand to me.' Harry didn't understand the significance of that but she could see Ron at least had some inkling. It was an ancient oath from back when people would swear themselves to a monarch, it meant that Hermione had complete control over Grindelwald's magic. She had the power to literally tear away his core if he failed to obey her orders. It was a lot of control to give to someone. Even now she could feel his magic through the bond, she could feel how he was tiring, how out of practice he was.

'We need to evacuate everyone. He's just providing a distraction so that we can all get away. Get everyone to Grimmauld Place' She told her two friends, they both nodded and Harry headed off to explain to McGonagall. Ron left to speak to Kingsley.

Hermione slowly began to crawl towards Grindelwald, he would need her to apparate him to the safe place as soon as everyone got away.

Spells splashed against his shields, his borrowed wand flared and flickered, spitting white fire at anyone in a black cloak. Hermione cast her own shield and jogged out towards him, fortunately most of the death eaters were distracted by the much more powerful wizard that was bottle necking the bridge.

He must have been aware that she was close because she was able to slip through his shields and into the protected bubble inside. He grunted out instructions with barely a pause and she willingly took over the left side of the bridge. It turned out that they were a terrible team. It was all very well at the edges of the bridge but they kept wasting spells on the same foes in the middle.

Meanwhile, Hermione tended to aim to disable, creating a maze of incapacitated foes for her opponents to try and climb around. The majority of Grindelwald's victims disintegrated, which created a path of least resistance to his side.

Grindelwald's powerful shield flickered, and Hermione quickly added her own underneath. They needed to get out of here but she had yet to receive any message from either of her two friends. She cast her patronus, Gridelwald hurrying to cover her as she relayed a message for it to deliver. The silver otter swam off and she was able to refocus her remaining energy on the shield.

Grindelwald was down to minor jinxes and hexes now. Bee stings, sticking shoes, tickling jinx. Sweat trickled down both of their faces. The death eaters were still fresh though as they freed their stuck comrades and rennervated those that had been stunned. Harry's stag appeared just as Hermione's shield failed, only managing to deliver half its message before a killing curse dissolved it into silver wisps.

Grindelwald dragged her into the cover of a fallen column.

'Get us out of here.' He ordered. She hadn't received anything from Ron but they had no choice, it was leave now or they would die. She grasped his arm and they disapparated with a sharp crack.


	3. Chapter 3

Grimmauld place was mobbed. The portrait was screeching but everyone was too busy tending to the injured to shut her up, there were wounded on hurriedly conjured beds in every room. Those with less severe injuries were sitting on the floor or leaning against walls. Kreacher, trailed by an army of evacuated Hogwarts elves, scurried between beds with bowls of broth, hot water and bandages. From the kitchen, plumes of purple, yellow and the occasional flash of light signalled the creation of numerous healing potions.

The first person to notice her pointed them in the direction of the Library – one of the few rooms that hadn't yet been cleaned out yet. Hermione gestured to the wizard behind her and they hurried up the stairs, stopping briefly for Grindelwald to cast a heating charm on the screaming Black matriarch. He smeared his fingers over the softened oil paint, effectively sealing the woman's mouth shut. Hermione wondered why she'd never thought of it before.

It was hardly quieter in the Library, although there were no wounded. Kingsley was there, as well as Harry, Professor McGonagall, Mr. Weasley and Lupin.

The arguing ceased as soon as Hermione cleared her throat and the room suddenly became very still as the two newcomers took a seat. Mr. Weasley peered around them as if he was hoping someone else would step through the doorway. She noticed that McGonagall had a hand on her wand and less than subtly placed hers on the table out of reach. Grindelwald tossed his in the fire, which would have been laughable if the situation hadn't been so serious.

'Where's Ron?' She blurted out, horror pooling in her stomach.

'He hasn't gotten back yet.' Harry informed her solemnly, 'we hoped he would be with you.' Mr. Weasley made a strangled choking sound and left the room in a flurry of robes, Lupin quickly chased after the distraught man.

'Who else?' She asked hollowly, dreading the answer but at the same time desperate to hear it.

'Bill and Lavender were bitten by Greyback but it wasn't a full moon so they'll hopefully both recover. Both Creevey brothers are missing, as well as Cho Chang and Percy. Fred isn't dead but he got hit over the head pretty hard.' It was a long list, especially as she knew that Harry had only listed those she knew.

'Gellert Grindelwald? How could you be so foolish Miss. Granger?' McGonagall almost hissed, finally seeming unable to hold back much longer. The previously uninterested Dark Wizard looked up from the fireplace.

'We need his knowledge to defeat Voldemort, Professor.' Hermione answered.

'Professor Dumbledore left us with a mission before he died, we think Grindelwald will be able to help us finish it.' Harry came to her rescue, he might not yet understand Hermione's reasoning but she'd never led them wrong before. Grindelwald himself stared between them, seemingly confused. Hermione hadn't had time to explain more than the battle at Hogwarts to him yet.

'He saved us all in Hogwarts, Professor, we never would have gotten away without him.' Hermione added.

'I am wand bound to Miss. Granger, Madam McGonagall. I can do nothing she does not approve of, I am sure I will be returned to my cell as soon as I have avenged my brother's murder.'

'Your brother?' McGonagall echoed.

'Albus was my blood brother, until he broke the oath to duel me.' Surprisingly, Grindelwald did not seem angry at this. Maybe it was the firelight casting strange shadows in the dark room, or the way his dirty hair and tattered clothing contrasted so sharply with his surroundings, but he looked to Hermione to be older, more worn than he had in his cell in Nurmengard. Either way, McGonagall must have seen that he was not a threat to them because she swept out of the room with little more than a suspicious look. Kingsley gave them one long measured glance, which clearly communicated that the two students were responsible if their rescued ally caused problems later on, before he to left the room.

'I can't stay here; it puts everyone else in danger.' Were Harry's first words as soon as the order had left the room. It seemed as though they would be continuing to operate as a separate unit.

'We need to find Ron.' Hermione countered.

'If he's not dead already, he will be hiding in Hogwarts. It will be days before the death eaters clear out and we can go and find him. I can't put the order at risk by staying here that long.'

'Let's stay the night at least. They need every wand to treat the wounded and Voldemort won't be able to mount an attack that fast. He lost at least as many as we did today, if not more. I could do with a warm bed tonight and I'm sure Grindelwald could use a shower and some new clothes.'

'I need a wand. That one was Scheisse.' The wizard added in agreement.

'Fine, we'll stay tonight and help but tomorrow we go.' Harry relented. He left quickly after that and she heard him being begged into the kitchen to help brew blood replenishing potions by Slughorn. Hermione followed after a short pause, glancing wistfully at the soft chairs in front of the fire.

She headed downstairs and into the first room of injured that she saw. The parlour seemed to be very quiet, moans punctuating the room rather than the wailing and screaming from the drawing room. Tonks was crouched over a cot at the far end, muttering a complex counter curse and Hermione didn't disturb her, instead focusing on a nasty flesh eating curse that covered the upper body of a nearby Ravenclaw girl.

' _Ustis Carnem_ \- A powerful healing charm for flesh wounds, not much good for bones though. ' Grindelwald spoke behind her and she jumped, she hadn't realised that he'd followed her from the library. Hermione nodded and lifted her wand but stopped when his hand caught her wrist. ' _Scourgify_ first, or you'll trap the curse under the new flesh.' Again Hermione nodded and did as directed, the wound was healed in minutes.

This time they did make a good team, his knowledge seemed almost encyclopaedic but his magic was exhausted, possibly the only sign of his true age. Hermione meanwhile was inexperienced but had done considerably less casting that day.

Some took longer than others of course; they spent over half an hour on what ended up being a combination of a jelly-legs curse and a knee-reversal hex. Others that Hermione knew always foxed the order – the entrails expelling charm for example; Molly always had to make an incision to put the entrails back in. Grindelwald knew the counter curse of the top of his head. She knew she'd learned more in the last couple of hours than in her last year of Hogwarts.

Tonks realised they were there once she finished her first patient and quickly made use of the Dark Wizard. Between them, they had the entire room peacefully slumbering before they even needed to light the lamps.


	4. Chapter 4

**Please let me know if you spot any mistakes, I'm just getting this off my computer as I write it.**

Grindelwald looked like a different wizard by dinner. Once cleaned, his hair was an arctic white which, combined with such pale skin give him a rather bleached appearance. That made his strange blue-black eyes stand out and gave him an almost haunted appearance. She'd managed to find some clothes in one of the wardrobes that were a close enough fit for him and he'd borrowed her wand to trim his hair and beard.

It was strange to observe the effect he had on the other occupants of the room. The oldest among them avoided him like the plague but those of Hermione's generation who had only heard of him in history books seemed to be almost in awe. To his credit, he didn't seem to even notice the looks and seemed more interested in third helpings of chicken than the whispers.

After dinner though, the three of them retreated to the library again. It was one of the few rooms in the house that hadn't yet been cleared of dark artefacts, which almost guaranteed that nobody else would venture in to spend the night.

Grindelwald sat on the seat next to the fire whilst Hermione cast spongify charms on the carpet. Harry meanwhile went off to transfigure the safest books he could find into pillows and blankets. Once he had returned and they had cast the necessary silencing charms, they were free to plan for tomorrow.

It was quickly established they could do little until Grindelwald, or Gellert as he told them to call him, had a wand. With Ollivanders closed, the only choice seemed to be to go abroad. Gregorovich was the only foreign wandmaker they knew of, although Grindelwald quickly informed him that he was almost certainly a persona-non-grata in that specific store. The only remaining option was to hope that the death eaters hadn't plundered Ollivander's store and that there was a suitable wand in stock.

They went to bed early, leaving the fire burning for warmth.

Grindelwald was up before dawn and woke them up. Hermione grabbed her wand and her beaded bag and the three of them snuck down to the kitchen. Luckily, it was only the Hogwarts elves awake at this hour and they were only too happy to give them all of last night's leftovers under a stasis charm with minimal fuss or questions.

They had left before the sun was even up.

They apparated to Richmond to wait until after Voldemort's curfew, a supremely uncomfortable experience as Hermione couldn't remember exactly what Grindelwald's views on muggles were. He certainly managed an impressive sneer towards a passing policeman. Strangely, it seemed almost impertinent to ask him now.

They found a bench in Richmond Park with a spectacular view of the city, and settled down to watch the sun rise.

'The world hasn't changed.' Gellert remarked as Hermione renewed the warming charm for the second time. 'Ours I mean.' He clarified, gesturing to the three of them. Hermione understood what he meant. The wizarding world seemed to have gotten stuck in the 1940's.

'Was it more similar to the muggle world?' She asked curiously.

'The muggle world was very different to now. They had been at war for half a decade, decimated half of Europe. The wealthy and the poor were divided to the extremes, they seemed to almost enslave one another.' Frequent use had softened the croak of his voice, and Hermione found herself understanding why so many had blindly followed him.

'Wizards lived similarly to the wealthy muggles – the technology in our homes, transport, clothing. The way we live has changed very little, but muggles seem almost different animals.'

'I'm muggleborn.' Hermione suddenly blurted out, resenting him calling her parents animals. Grindelwald looked over her searchingly.

'I had assumed, either that or your wizarding parent died and you were raised by muggles.'

'Muggles are not animals!' She hissed, jumping up from the bench so that she could unleash the full fury of her indignant gaze on him. He lounged back on the bench and looked straight at her, completely unfazed. It was disconcerting, looking into such drastically different eyes, an effect she suspected he was fully aware of. She looked away first and huffed stubbornly.

'Sit, you're causing a scene.' He purred. Hermione looked around, noticing a pair of joggers watching them. 'I assumed you were raised by muggles because nobody else would be brave enough to approach me. Did you know I hadn't had a single human visitor until your Dark Lord?' Hermione huffed, stubbornly waiting until he apologised for calling muggles animals. Grindelwald just flicked his hand in a downward motion and wandlessly forced Hermione to return to her seat. She was so in awe of his ability that she couldn't decide whether to be impressed of angry.

'Muggles are animals, we are all animals. We all have our place in the world, just like a worm, a sparrow and a hawk. Letting muggles get so far ahead, it is dangerous and humiliating. We have allowed ourselves to become so separated for fear of revealing ourselves, we have stagnated under the statute of secrecy...' He trailed off, seeming to remember that he wasn't speaking to his old followers for the first time. 'Forgive me, I forget that my views are not appreciated.' He finally said.

'We should leave.' Harry said after a pregnant pause. It had been light for a while and businessmen on bicycles were starting to join the flow of joggers.

He stood and Hermione realised that the spell holding her down had been released. Harry stood as well from where he had been listening to their conversation. The Boy-Who-Lived held out a hand to Hermione, who linked hers with Grindelwald.

They disapperated with a crack and reappeared in Ollivander's dusty shop; it was full. Thousands upon thousands of boxes lined the shelves as if nobody had been inside since the wandmaker had gone missing. The three of them stood in the middle of the store, observing the countless options in front of them.

'How do we find the right one?' Harry whispered into the silence. Ollivander had shared none of the details of how a wand was selected with them. From Gellert's expression she doubted anyone had shared the information with him either.

'Maybe you can feel it?' Hermione whispered, running her fingers over the desk and pulling out one of the draws. A silver tape measure whipped out like a snake and started taking random measurements- the distance between two legs on a chair, the breadth of the bell above the door, the length of Harry's tongue.

Harry snatched the silver tape as it started measuring the size of his teeth and told it firmly that it was Grindelwald who needed to find a wand before tossing it aside. So they were all surprised when the tape started measuring Grindelwald. After a couple of measurements, boxes started to fly off the walls, stacking themselves on the counter. With no better ideas, Hermione took the top box and handed it to Gellert. He took one look and sneered.

'No.' Hermione tried the next and the next, quickly building a pile of potential candidates and sending those he turned away back to their homes on the shelves. By the time the tape finally fell into a neat coil on the floor, less than ten wands remained. The Dark Wizard ran his fingers across the different boxes, seemingly pleased with the results.

He picked a box at random, pulling out a pale wand. He flicked it once, snorted and tossed it aside.

'This Ollivander uses unicorn hair. Pathetic.' Two more wands joined the discarded ones, it became clear that unicorn hair simply refused to work for him. The fourth wand was the first to show results, sending several boxes clattering from their shelves.

'Strange, my first wand was hornbeam and dragon heartstring.' He commented, putting aside that wand almost reluctantly. Elder and phoenix feather was the next to provide a result, something he claimed would have suited the young Dumbledore perfectly.

Hermione knew the moment he picked up the right wand, his magic surged through their vow, dark and completely unrepentant as it seared through the room in a malevolent wave of blue fire. If the feel of his magic through their vow wasn't enough, the manic grin on his face was a sure signature.

'Yew and dragon heartstring, eleven and three quarter inches, unyielding.' Hermione read from the small note in the box. Grindelwald didn't seem to notice as he was too busy blowing apart and repairing shelving. Harry drew the line when he began reanimating the corpses of spiders that had fallen victim to one of the blasts, claiming that an army of undead spiders would be more likely to traumatise Ron than rescue him. The Dark Wizard insisted on keeping them, summoning a jar from Hermione's bag and directing the bugs inside it.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry apparated them to the cave above Hogsmede and the pair quickly fell into habit, Hermione started work on their protective enchantments whilst Harry headed inside to make the space comfortable. It was a familiar routine by now and one that she was perfectly comfortable performing, so she was surprised when she felt Grindelwald beginning to weave his own magic around hers, modifying her wards. There was something unusual about the way his changes settled, as if they were drawing power from a non-magical substance. She opened her eyes to see him placing his spiders along the perimeter of the camp.

'It would surprise you how many powerful wizards can't deal with the unexpected.' He explained, placing the last of his spiders right next to where she stood. He gave her that strange, one sided smile as he straightened and disappeared after Harry into the cave.

Harry had done a brilliant job inside, he had pulled out a couple of jars of bluebell flames and arranged them to light the space. Heating charms were slowly working their magic on three bowls of soup which sat on a roughly transfigured table – leaves still sprouted over the surface, so she assumed it had once been a twig.

Gellert conjured three squishy armchairs and cast a warming charm over them. Before he sat, he patted the cushion over thoroughly and withdrew several metal pins.

'Albus was brilliant at this spell, mine always have pins in.' He grumbled, tossing the offending metal scraps away.

'You're focusing too hard on creating a chair, the emphasis needs to be on sitting in the chair.' Hermione informed him as she carried the bowls of soup over.

'Blimey Hermione, you should take over from McGonagall.' Harry said as he emerged from her beaded bag with the Marauder's Map. He spread the map out over the table with one hand as he picked up his soup with the other. Hermione hastily summoned the needles out of his seat as he sat down, before doing the same to her own. Grindelwald watched on curiously as Harry muttered the password and the map began to appear before them.

It hadn't modified, Hermione noticed, to accommodate for the damage to the castle during the battle. The inky halls remained intact, the entrance hall doored, the statues in place, only the change in names signalled that something was amiss.

The dungeons were full, that became immediately clear, although they recognised none of the names. The corridors were patrolled by the Carrows and the Malfoys, Voldemort was ensconced in the Headmaster's office.

'The anti-apparition wards are back up.' Hermione informed them, pointing out Nott hurrying up the grounds from the gates.

'Looks like Pettigrew told You-Know-Who about all the passages, so they're probably warded too.' Harry added as Lucius Malfoy paused his patrolling to check inside the blocked passage behind the portrait of Merlin. 'They're not very up to date at least, Fred said that passage has been blocked for years.'

'The room of requirement isn't on here.' Hermione pointed to the 7th floor corridor.

'It might not exist anymore, Crabbe cast Feindfyre in there, remember?'

'Feindfyre doesn't damage stone.' Grindelwald commented casually, 'although the room will probably be full of Ashwinders.'

'We need to check there, we'll go through the Hog's Head passage.' Harry decided, 'then we need to free the prisoners, we can't just leave them.' Grindelwald rolled his eyes and mumbled something unflattering about heroes but as he worded no complaint, the plan was decided for the next day.

Harry packed the map away and left the cave to do the dishes, Hermione finally decided to broach the real reason she had released Grindelwald.

'Are you familiar with prophesies?' She asked him, from his derisive snort she assumed that like her and every other intelligent wizard, he didn't hold much stock in prophesies.

'I am a seer, Miss Granger. I am intimately familiar with prophesies.' He informed her, which was enough to make her relieved she hadn't expressed her views. It also completely sidetracked her as she bombarded him with questions. She'd never spoken to a genuine seer before about divination (which was a subject he did find stupid; either you have the talent or do not.) He explained that tea leaves were a lost cause, most of his visions were entirely unprompted and came in dreams, although a dream diary was a waste of time as a vision was very difficult to mistake for a regular dream. Hermione listened with rapt attention as he described the vision that he had seen of the trenches in World War One that had rallied so many to his cause and how his vision of the Second World War had been the trigger that began his campaign.

She was finally brought back to the present when he asked why she was interested in prophesies. She then described how Harry was the subject of a prophesy and how he was the only one that could kill You-Know-Who. She related the exact wording to the Seer, who laughed at the foolishness of a Dark Lord who chased prophesies.

Then came the complication.

'Have you heard of a horcrux?' Hermione asked him, whispering the word as if saying it quietly would lessen the evilness of the subject.

'I have heard of them. I assume Vold-You-Know-Who has made one.'

'He made seven.' She informed him, at which point Grindelwald made an appreciative noise.

'Seven is a powerful magical number. I can see the appeal, although if he had done enough research he would have realised that horcruxes only prevent death, not aging.'

'He killed someone to extend his own life.' Hermione said, outraged that Grindelwald was only seeing the personal benefits and disadvantages.

'No, he killed someone to extend his own _existence_. With access to the right information he would have realised he could still age and die naturally, then only get a new body if his followers loved him enough to create the potion. Few followers love a leader that tortures them.' He corrected, entirely missing Hermione's point. Remembering that she was talking to the man that killed an entire town of muggles to create inferi, she gave up, moving on to the more relevant matters at hand.

'We've destroyed five of the seven; Slytherin's locket, his family ring, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, his school diary. His snake is one, and the last...'

'Is Mr. Potter' Grindelwald finished. 'You can't destroy the horcrux without killing him, you can't kill You-Know-Who if you kill . I assume having Potter reduce You-Know-Who to a wraith, then killing Potter is not a viable option?' Hermione's expression let him know that was certainly not an options, and she prayed that Harry wasn't close enough to hear that solution.

'I was considering transfer.' She suggested. 'I only have basic knowledge, of course, that's why we needed your help.'

Grindelwald was silent for several long moments as he considered the problem.

'Theoretically it would be possible. Creating a horcrux is split into three separate stages; committing murder only damages the soul temporarily, so the first stage is to allow for a full and permanent tear. The second stage is to create the tear by murdering someone. The final stage is to transfer the torn section into the new object and link it to its new host. I have only read about the process in passing but I have a text which details the process in Nurmengard.' Hermione was nodding but a cold feeling was working its way into her gut. She felt dirty even knowing the theory of this. Grindelwald didn't seem to notice, wrapped up in the thrill of an academic challenge as he described the simple process of detaching an entire soul from its host, and potential ways to isolate it to only remove the horcrux.

When she could take the details no longer, and feeling as though she knew far too much, Hermione finally interrupted.

'I'm sorry, Mr. Grindelwald...' He finally looked up from the runic diagrams he'd drawn onto the table and noticed for the first time how pale she was. He jumped up, apologising profusely as he summoned hot cocoa from the beaded bag and made her a hot chocolate.

'I saw what I would become when I was too young to understand that it was not normal. I'm sure you're aware that I was expelled from Durmstrang for practicing blood magic when I was sixteen. Albus used to get sick sometimes, when he caught me practicing, he used to say that he felt tainted afterwards. He claimed that chocolate was the cure for all dark magic.' He handed over the steaming mug and took his seat again.

'I think I understand. I feel like I know too much.' She took a sip of the chocolate, which burned its way down to her stomach. 'I read about your friendship with Dumbledore.' She told him, which seemed to surprise the Dark Wizard.

'He was usually very private, I was unaware that he'd ever even admitted that we were associated.'

'Rita Skeeter published an autobiography. I think she forced Bathilda Bagshot into taking veritaserum.'

'Is this woman dead yet?' He asked in such a flat tone that at first Hermione thought that he was joking. Then she realised that he was fingering his wand as if he was considering which spell in his arsenal to inflict on her. 'Aunt Bathilda was always good to me.'

'I find a mason jar is usually enough of a threat.' Which launched them into a conversation on animagi, which Harry soon returned to join in on.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to those who let me know that the upload was bad. Here is the (hopefully) fixed chapter.**

 **Pretender**

 **/prɪˈtɛndə/**

 _noun_

A person who claims or aspires to a title of position.

Hermione was starting to realise Gellert slept very little. He was up before dawn again, which woke Hermione because she was a light sleeper. She watched as he moved around, cleaning his teeth – which was unusual because she'd never imagined infamous dark wizards as the kind of people to use a toothbrush, and combing his hair into spikes.

Hermione woke up a little while later when a coffee landed infront of her. Another landed in front of Harry, a saucer knocking him in the ear a couple of times. She sat up in her camp cot, gratefully taking a sip of the warm drink. Grindelwald was back in his armchair, reading Hermione's worn copy of _Hogwarts: a history_.

'Porridge?' He asked, without looking up from his book. She agreed, and the mumble from Harry's cot sounded positive. Again, without looking up from his book, Grindelwald flicked his fingers and summoned ingredients from the bag, setting them to cook with a complex twist of his hand.

He was well known for his wandless magic of course but it was fascinating to observe how he performed daily tasks with it. He looked up briefly to check the consistency before wandlessly distributing the porridge into bowls and floating it over to them. Hermione considered trying to wandlessly summon a spoon for herself but thought better of embarrassing herself. Then again, he wouldn't know that she'd been trying if it didn't work.

She put down her cup, subtly opening her hand and concentrating on a spoon.

'Hand gesture is very important Miss. Granger.' The older wizard said. She jumped, certain that he hadn't even looked up. 'Your intent is strong enough and you certainly have the power. Hand gesture and the incantation help to focus and direct your magic.'

Embarrassed, she tried again, waving her hand as if it were her wand, loudly and clearly pronouncing the incantation. The spoon made it half way to her before falling on the filthy cave floor. She moaned and used her wand to summon a new spoon from her bag. Gellert was politely reading his book again and didn't comment on her failure, his face was very carefully blank.

They all donned a set of heavy black hooded robes which were incredibly uncomfortable to wear and inconvenient to move in but would hopefully help to hide their identities at the Hog's Head. She keenly remembered the last time that she'd visited and they'd stood out for not wearing anything concealing.

Hermione took her turn doing the dishes when Harry was finally up. Grindelwald began retrieving his spiders as Harry packed up the furniture, banished the chairs and transfigured the table back into a stick.

Hermione did the dishes just outside the cave, conjuring a couple of birds to eat and leftovers on the ground. As she did, she took a moment to revel in how cooking with magic never left burned pans.

She returned to the cave in time to see Grindelwald stripping away the last of her wards, something Hermione hadn't even known it was possible to do if you weren't the caster. Somehow he'd managed to not even trigger any of the warning systems she had in place.

Once they were finished, Hermione cast a quick spell to erase their footsteps. Gellert then cast a quick one over the top which he claimed would remove their magical signatures from the area. Harry passed her the beaded bag and they joined hands before disappearing with a crack.

They reappeared in front of the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. It was one of the few shops not yet abandoned, which gave the town a ghostly feeling. Although there were people in the street, they hurried along, dressed in black robes with their head down. Harry dragged them both through the pub door and into the darkened interior.

The place was bustling. All manner of creatures sat around the tables; vampires, hags and every other dark being that now thrived under the rule of Voldemort. Fortunately, nobody spared them a glance as they wove between patrons, careful not to touch anyone.

They drew up to the bar and waited in the queue to be served when Grindelwald tapped Hermione on the shoulder furiously.

'You failed to tell me this passage is guarded by Albus' brother.' He growled in her ear. It took Hermione a couple of seconds to recognise why that was a problem; it was often difficult to connect the young man travelling with them to the villain of her books.

'Oh no, you killed Ariana didn't you?' She realised, but by then it was too late because Aberforth was already turning to serve them. Grindelwald sank backwards as Harry stepped up to the bar.

'We wondered if we could speak to the portrait?' Harry murmured. Aberforth nodded and let himself out from behind the bar. The trio followed him and passed through the door he held open. Any hopes they might have had of this going smoothly was dashed as soon as Aberforth laid eyes on Grindelwald. He recognised the dark wizard immediately and whipped his wand out as if to disarm him. Gellert whipped through the door, letting it slam shut and Aberforth's spell splashed harmlessly against the wood. He cast another which flashed against Grindelwald's shield, followed by several more. To his credit, Gellert took the attack without retaliating once, retreating back until his back hit the wall at the far side of the room.

Seeing that Aberforth's onslaught was nowhere near stopping, Hermione quickly disarmed him. Then, to make things fair, she disarmed Grindelwald too. The dark wizard pushed back his hood to look at her with a disgruntled expression.

'How dare you!' Aberforth growled, 'You step foot on my property after what you did to us.'

'I didn't know you were here.'

'You should be festering in prison for the rest of your artificial, tortured life for what you did to my sister, for what you did to Albus.' The bartender continued.

'I've changed, I wanted to speak with him, to apologise.'

'There is no apology! He loved you, not as a brother, and you tore his heart and killed his sister. The fool listened to your honeyed lies and believed you but you betrayed him. Then you tore him apart again when you forced him to shut you in a cell in your own putrid prison.'

Grindelwald seemed shocked into silence.

'I thought he hated me.' He finally whispered. 'When he broke the pact, I thought he never wanted anything to do with me again. I wanted to apologise to him but he never visited.'

'He's dead now.' Aberforth scowled, brutally twisting the knife in his devastated opponent.

'I know, Hermione came to Nurmengard, I asked to avenge him.'

'Then she is a fool, to be tricked by your silver tongue.'

'I swore my wand to her. She may take my magic and return me to Nurmengard if she feels fit, but I must avenge Albus.'

'If you'd not betrayed him, you would know Albus didn't believe in revenge. He was a champion of love and forgiveness.'

'He was a bastion of light that I never deserved.'

'No, you didn't.'

Hermione didn't understand exactly what had happened during the discussion, they had traded words almost too fast for her to follow but they seemed to have reached some kind of agreement because Aberforth strode over to the portrait above the fireplace and spoke to his sister. Grindelwald smoothed his charismatic mask back over his features and straightened up again.


	7. Chapter 7

The passageway still existed and was as dark and dank as ever. Grindelwald maintained a constant shield in front of them, wary of any still smouldering fire or ashwinder eggs. Hermione and Harry's wands cast ghostly shadows across the rough hewn walls as they crept forwards.

Soot marks started to appear on the wall before they reached a closed door. Harry and Hermione shared a look – the passageway had ended in the room last time.

Harry stepped forwards and tried the door but it wouldn't budge. His hands came away covered in charcoal. Hermione tried several unlocking spells, then fell silent as they heard voices outside.

'Goyle! There you are. The Dark Lord has given permission to extract information from the Cho girl whilst he's at the manor. Draco claims she was Potter's girlfriend.' It was Bellatrix Lestrange.

They listened with bated breath as the two death eaters approached, arguing over who would get to cast the first spell and who would ask the questions. One of them, presumably Bellatrix started to run her wand along the wall, they heard it tapping against the stones, then continue to tap over stones as they passed the door that the trio were huddled behind. They waited for a couple of minutes as the voices faded away.

'The door doesn't exist!' Harry whispered

'The enchantment on the room must be damaged.' Hermione concluded.

'We need to rescue the prisoners. They've got Cho!' insisted Harry, Grindelwald muttered something unsavoury about heroes.

'We could slowly dismantle the wall, but it could take ages and anyone who went past would catch us or we could blast our way through which means they would hear us but we'd be in quickly.' Hermione considered, inspecting the doors. From this side they looked wooden but there was no telling how thick the stones were.

'We need a distraction, they are with the prisoners now. We need to get them away from the dungeons so that we can rescue everyone.' Harry said, pulling out the map and spreading it out on the floor.

'We will need an easy escape route too – a lot of the prisoners will be injured.' Grindelwald added.

'How about we blast our way in, then create a false entry point a little way away. Leave some brooms there as if we've just flown in and disguise this exit.'

'Then Miss Granger and I head up to the headmaster's office, make a lot of noise, some fire. Whilst Mr. Potter rescues the prisoners.'

'Brilliant, then you guys can escape by floo powder and I'll come back here with everyone else.'

They'd learned that plans were best left open for adjustment, so without delay Hermione blasted through the wall and they burst through. Harry scooped up the splinters of wood and glamoured them into brooms. Hermione cast an intricate glamour over the exposed passageway whilst Grindelwald went to exercise his particular brand of destruction on the window at the end of the passageway.

Several earth shattering blasts later, the dark wizard reappeared. Harry chucked his brooms in the direction of the gaping hole and the three of them split off to their separate destinations.

Hermione guided the two of them towards the Headmaster's office, stopping to spread dusty footprints or leave weak traps at any junction where the death eaters could potentially stop following them. They had already reached the enchanted staircase into the office when Harry's patronus let them know that the death eaters had just passed him on their way up to the disturbance.

Here, they ran through a whole host of detection charms and on Grindelwald's advice Hermione conjured a flock of birds, sending them ahead to check for any that may not have triggered their spells. They came up with only the basic protection and privacy wards, something that Grindelwald expressed concern over as there were plenty of effective spells that any dark wizard would utilise.

They hurried up the stairs anyway, blasting the door open and rushing into the room. Hermione repaired and sealed the door whilst Grindelwald cast numerous protective enchantments, some of which were entirely new to the young witch.

'Find the floo powder, and anything else you think might be useful.' Hermione ordered, glancing over Dumbledore's many magical artefacts.

Grindelwald nodded, allowing her to take over the protective enchantments and taking her beaded bag to collect the many treasures that even Voldemort hadn't touched.

They heard the shouting well before the onslaught began; Hermione concluded that neither of Malfoy's cronies had ever genetically stood a chance as first Crabbe Sr. then Goyle Sr. got caught in the disappearing stair, Bellatrix was squealing in excitement and Lucius was hollering at everyone to slow down and check for wards.

Unfortunately they must have, because everything went quiet for a while. Hermione ran to help Grindelwald manoeuvre the pensive into the bag, then she went to look through the documents on the desk. Outside the racket started up again as the death eaters started to bombard the wards.

'Why are we always the distraction?' Grindelwald asked as the first of the protective enchantments failed. He pulled Dumbledore's empty portrait off the wall and used his wand to break the security charm on one of the cabinets.

'Because you're the best at it. Still no floo powder' She answered, searching through the cabinet as Gellert moved to the next.

'Try that one.' He pointed to the stationary desk. The last ward fell and the door exploded into splinters. Hermione and Grindelwald dived behind the desk and Hermione cast an _impervious_ charm on the ornately decorated item.

' _Accio floo powder_ ' Hermione shouted, holding her wand aloft. Nothing happened. 'We need to figure out another way out.' She shouted over the cacophony of spells.

'Destroy that fireplace so nobody can come out behind us.' Gellert ordered but Hermione was already casting reducto charms. She summoned the feather mattress from the headmaster's bed and magically plugged the chimney with them.

'Harry's clear!' Hermione shouted as she spotted fireworks from the seventh floor window. She looked frantically for a way out, briefly considering the windows but they were too exposed. The chimney would have to do. She flicked her wand, sending the mattress soaring across the room to block the doorway and animated the sheets and sent them to wrap around any pursuers. She shouted to get Grindelwald's attention, mimed a countdown and they both threw themselves into the remains of the fireplace. Hermione grabbed the wizard's arm, and pointed her wand towards the starry square in the distance.

' _Ascendio_ ' She screamed and they shot upwards. The chimney was barely wide enough, the exit at the top even narrower.

' _Reducto_ ' Grindelwald bellowed, just as the chute started to narrow. They exploded upwards in a shower of stone and soot, soaring into the air and out over the forbidden forest. They plunged towards the ground, clinging to one another so as not to get separated.

' _Arresto Momentum_ ' they both cried out in unison, twining their magic together to break their fall. They crashed through the tree canopy, branches whipping at Hermione's hair and face, threatening to tear them apart as their spell strained against gravity.

They stopped suddenly several meters above ground, lowering more gently the rest of the way. Both of them lay panting on the ground for several minutes before Hermione burst into slightly hysterical laughter. Gellert sat up, and she noticed that he was covered head to toe in soot and blood from hundreds of tiny scratches. His white hair was almost black and his one blue eye looked as maniacal as moody's magic eye.

She dragged a hand through her own locks, fingers coming away cleaner than before.

'There's thestrals here.' Grindelwald prodded a pile of dried dung with his wand.

'Hagrid trained them; we rode them the whole way to London a couple of years ago.' They climbed to their feet. 'We need to hurry before they get brooms.'

Hermione opened her bag and summoned the leftover roast the Grimmauld Place elves had given them. She laid it in the middle of the clearing, casting a _ventus_ spell to spread the smell across the forest.

Fortunately they didn't have to wait long, the first thestral arrived within seconds. Last time she'd been close to one of the beasts, Hermione hadn't been able to see it, so she was frozen for several seconds acclimatizing to the appearance of the skeletal horses. She could understand how they'd freaked Harry out.

They decided to double up on the single mount rather than risking waiting any longer, so Hermione approached and explained what they needed, feeling silly for talking to a horse the whole time. The beast looked disgruntled but abandoned the roast and angled its wings to allow them to climb on. She gratefully promised the animal more food once they reached their destination and took Grindelwald's offer of a leg up.

He climbed up behind her and they soared up into the night sky.


	8. Chapter 8

They landed in front of the Hog's Head less than five minutes later to find a frantic Harry barely holding it together as he sent that last group of prisoners off to Grimmauld Place by port key.

Aberforth greeted them at the door, then disappeared into his kitchen to get a treat for the thestral, leaving it open for them to come in. They found Harry in the living room with the last of the prisoners. He rushed over to them, demanding to know what had gone wrong, then pausing as he took in their appearance.

'We had to improvise a little. We couldn't find any Floo powder, it wasn't where it was last year.' She said, knowing that Harry was bursting to tell them something.

'Ron is still alive – they caught him but he's been moved to Malfoy Manor because the wards are stronger. Flitwick is there too, apparently they're hoping we'll make a rescue attempt.'

'So we have time.' Grindelwald concluded. 'You can't use someone for a trap if they're dead.'

'We need to figure out a way to break the wards, Dobby helped us last time but I bet they've closed that loophole by now.' Hermione considered. 'Gellert, you wanted to go to Nurmengard right?'

Aberforth had sent off the last of the prisoners whilst they were talking and as they were leaving, Grindelwald pulled him aside. They had a short discussion as Hermione thanked the thestral, then the pair shook hands before Grindelwald rejoined them. He took both their hands and they disappeared from Britain in a dark swirl.

They reappeared in pitch blackness, Hermione stumbled a little, disorientated by the unexpected surroundings. Grindelwald muttered a spell and blue fire flared to life in the wall sconces down a long corridor. He walked away from them, entering the fourth door on the right. Filled with trepidation, Harry and Hermione followed him.

It was a cell, the skeleton of some long dead enemy piled on the floor beneath a set of shackles. Morbidly curious, Hermione watched as he levitated the bones and exited the cell, strolling down the corridor and down the stairs to the level below. She followed him through a heavily built door and into a large circular room.

An empty trench ran around the walls of the room, ringing a platform covered in intricately carved runes. At the centre of the platform was a stone altar and with a sickening feeling, Hermione realised that she was about to witness one of the darkest forms of magic. She threw out her arm to stop Harry going past the door and they both watched in gruesome fascination as Grindelwald floated the skeleton over to the altar.

He began to chant, raising his wand up into the air above his head. Hermione thought she recognised some of the words but they had an eerie quality, twisted among many that she did not. Magic swelled in the room as the dark wizard performed his ritual, the darkness of his aura seeming to become almost physically tangible. On the altar, the skeleton began to crumble, spilling in streams of white dust over the stone plateau and down channels into the runes.

Grindelwald staggered slightly but regained his footing without pausing his spell, the skeleton continued to crumble until whitish powder had filled every crevasse of the symbols on the ground and there was only a small pile left on the altar. The dark wizard's voice rose to a crescendo and he slammed his wand down into the bone mound. It sparked like gunpowder, searing the runes in bloody crimson light. Magic thundered through the castle, the ground shaking beneath their feet as fire roared to life in the trench around the room. Grindelwald cried out and fell to his knees as the glowing runes faded and the magical maelstrom silenced. The roaring flames in the trench faded back to a gentle flicker and the dark wizard at the altar pushed himself to his feet.

The magical bond between them was pulsing with dark energy and Hermione felt violently sick. She barely made it out of the awful room with its twisted magical residue before she was emptying her stomach against the wall. Harry stayed with her, rubbing circles on her back and pulling her hair away from her face even though he looked hardly any better.

She shakily scourgified the wall and floor when she finally felt that she had nothing left to throw up. Harry patted her once more on the back and she finally looked up to see Grindelwald leaning against the closed door. He looked awkward, as if he wanted to help but didn't know how. At that particular moment, Hermione was more than happy for him to keep his distance.

'I'm sorry, I should have thought to warn you.' He apologised sincerely, but she could feel the dark magic rushing through him from their bond. She imagined he was on an unbelievable high and was touched that he was considerate enough to recognise their feelings.

'Don't worry... is there somewhere we could rest for a while?' She asked him, wishing for nothing more than a shower and a soft bed. He agreed hastily and skirted around them to show them up the stairs.

They had to climb several levels before they left the cells, passing suddenly from cold uniformity into formal living areas. He led them up a grand staircase and into what seemed to be a massive auditorium, they climbed down into the central arena and through a dark corridor. He pushed open the door at the end and they emerged into a bright, comfortable room. It was furnished in red and gold with huge floor to ceiling windows across one wall. The two side walls were lined with books and magical artifacts in glass cases.

A spectacular view of the mountains outside the window suggested that they were at a considerable height; Hermione assumed they were at the top of the dark slit up Nurmengard's front face.

'These were my private quarters. There are guest rooms through that door on the left, the rooms you can use are unlocked.' He informed them and Hermione nodded as her and Harry hurried to get out of his evil presence.

They emerged into a dark corridor, and Hermione ran her fingers along the wall until she felt a door. The first was locked but the second opened into a large, well lit room. Harry, ever the self-sacrificing gentleman, made sure she was settled on the bed, muttered some unsavoury comments about Grindelwald and left to find his own room.

She was still awake several hours later when the dark wizard came in with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. He paused awkwardly at the door until she noticed him and invited him in. He left the drink on the bedside table and retreated quickly to the furthest armchair by the window.

'I apologise, I should have warned you.' He said as she picked up the warm drink and gratefully took a sip. He made very good hot cocoa, she noted. 'Are you feeling better? I can go if you're not.' He offered.

She nodded that she was because she knew they needed to get started researching how to remove the horcrux from Harry, even though every part of her revolted against the idea of spending any time in the presence of such evil. She noticed that even though several hours had passed, the dark magic was still coursing through his body. She could feel it through the bond like a worm in the corner of her mind. She wondered fearfully if he was usually like this, whether the presence she had grown used to was just the deprived shadow of his usual self.

'Take a shower and I'll be waiting in the main room when you're ready.' He offered with a look that let her know he knew that she was lying.

She showered quickly, despite the urge to scrub her skin raw to remove the taint. Grindelwald was waiting for her in the main room, looking out through the darkened window. He'd cleared away what had been on the desk and stacked it to one side, there were several different books open instead. She looked at them pensively, dreading the knowledge that they would hold.


	9. Chapter 9

**Just a reminder that these are all unproof-read chapters as I just want to get it off my computer as I write. Please feel free to let me know of any glaring mistakes.**

'I had the elf make chocolate fudge for you,' Gellert told her, taking a seat at the desk. She pulled up a chair opposite him as he rolled out a blank parchment sheet. He grabbed a quill and began sketching out the ritual, like most ancient and complex enchantments, it used a diagram rather than an incantation.

He spent several minutes drawing, then opened a pot of green ink and began annotating the runes he knew. Hermione pulled an encyclopedia of greek runes towards her and started searching for those that he didn't know.

It wasn't too bad, when you looked at all the aspects separately, she discovered. The runes individually weren't inherently evil, it was only when they were connected that the true intent of the spell became known. As it was, she ended up enjoying herself. She'd never had the good fortune to work with someone that equalled her in intelligence. They worked in near silence, pausing only to add more logs to the fire or send for food from the elf. Hermione's own writing scrawled across the diagram, as between them they decoded the exact process of the spell.

Once they had worked out the meanings of the runes, they began on the connectives. This was more gruelling work but Hermione discovered that if she focused solely on small areas, it was still not so bad. It was fascinating work on a much larger scale than the simple spells that they had worked on at school and Gellert was happy to explain his thought processes and how he picked out what connected to each other and the overall effect of the magic.

When Harry joined them later – just after Gellert had replace the candles for the second time, his eyes bugged as he took in the two of them, surrounded by opened books, piles of parchment and dirty dishes.

Hermione waved to him and he walked over, surveying the symbols surrounded by lines of miniscule writing. He wiped some ink off her chin and looked at the book over her shoulder. She was working on a very tricky aspect now; the differential between two halves of the soul. It was essential to the modifications they would eventually make to the ritual so she had to make sure she got the relation between them in the correct order so that they could isolate each rune.

They had a brief pause where Gellert left to fetch an old intelligence file which he claimed contained details on the magic defences of every great magical house in Britain. He confessed that although it was probably out of date, it would cover the majority of the older, more powerful warding.

'How are we warded here?' Hermione asked curiously, she hadn't seen him cast any protective spells, but she had been asleep for several hours.

'The ward room downstairs powers the protections. It requires blood or bone to keep them operating, you saw me repower them earlier.'

'That is the warding system?' Hermione asked, intrigued.

'Yes, the enchantments far more powerful with a symbol and the usual protective enchantments are much more potent when powered by human sacrifice. Of course, the ancient houses are similarly protected, usually with several hundred muggles sacrificed to power the protections. They don't need recharging for years, which is fortunate because human sacrifice is now illegal.'

'So how do you break them?' Harry asked curiously, pulling a chair up to the desk and cautiously moving some parchments to make space for him to sit. Grindelwald leaned back in his chair.

'Albus and the aurors brought mine down by continuous bombardment. They exhausted the charge after I had already been captured. These wards are not keyed to a specific family though – the wards belong to whomever casts them. For genetic inheritance of ward control, there must be an element of the family blood, so the easiest way to break the blood wards would be blood of the family.'

'So we need to capture a Malfoy.' Harry concluded. Grindelwald shook his head.

'No, we just need their blood. All we need is to make one of them bleed during a battle, even soiled clothes.' He opened the file, which was split into different sections, each headed by the name of one of the old wizarding families. He flicked through the alphabetical file, pausing on Macmillan and carefully leafing through until he reached Malfoy.

The Malfoy section was split into several different properties, one in France, one in Greece and a bolt-hole hunting lodge in Scotland. The largest section was on the Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, he handed Hermione a detailed, hand written list of wards. Harry was given a set of sketched blue prints and a diagram of the grounds.

'There will always be a focal point for the wards, usually inside the building. We need to access it to bring down the wards.'

'But if the focal point is inside the wards, how to we get to it?' Harry asked, causing Grindelwald to pause in his planning.

'Maybe we do need a Malfoy.' He conceded.

They paused to consider this problem, Harry pull over a piece of parchment, flipped it over and began to scratch out a list of places the Malfoy family might visit. He considered the list, crossed out the Ministry, circled Diagon Alley and Knockturn alley, then tapped his quill a couple of times next to Hogwarts.

'We could wait in the alley, they'd have to visit eventually but it could take a while...' He paused dramatically, 'or we could wait at the gates of Hogwarts. It's riskier, we'd be closer to You-Know-Who but if he's using it as a base and the wards are up, the Malfoys would have to apparate outside the gates to report to their master.' Hermione looked at him appreciatively as he explained his reasoning. Grindelwald was nodding in agreement. 'We could use my dad's invisibility cloak!' He added excitedly and Hermione winced, she didn't miss how Grindelwald suddenly looked at Harry with renewed interest.

'Yes.' Hermione gritted out, forcing herself not to show her displeasure to Harry. She would need to have stern words with the dark wizard.

'I want the snake too.' Gellert announced suddenly. 'I want to make sure the transfer works before we try it on Harry.' He explained when both younger wizards looked at him as if he'd gone crazy.


	10. Chapter 10

It was bitterly cold, despite being early summer as Harry and Hermione lay under the invisibility cloak beside the Hogwarts gates. The sun had risen several hours ago but had yet to penetrate the thick morning fog. The gates were clearly visible to the two hidden observers but the path in either direction faded quickly into blank grey cloud.

Harry yawned loudly and Hermione elbowed him harshly in the stomach. They'd only arrived two hours ago – just enough for the damp air to have chilled her to the bone. Grindelwald had held the night watch alone, claiming that he wouldn't miss the sleep. He'd said something cryptic about the side effects of dark magic when she'd asked and turned the leaf under her shoe into a port key to return her to Nurmengard.

She knew that he hadn't slept during the day either, because he'd finalised details of how to break the Malfoy wards and had made massive headway with the horcrux issue. He had isolated the exact rune combination that selected half of the soul and they'd come up with several potential alternatives to isolate the horcrux from Harry.

She also knew he'd been up to something else, which he hadn't been telling her about. His magic roared with dark fury, spiking throughout the day with frightening intensity. She'd begun learning occulmency as a result, isolating their bond to dim her awareness and the resulting sickness. He'd made every effort to help her, providing texts which he'd leave outside her room. He'd also left others relating to runes, history of magic and transfiguration which she'd thoroughly enjoyed.

Her talk about the hallows had gone surprisingly well, she'd expected him to deny his interest or try to lie. Instead he'd just complained about how close he'd been to it without realising and admitted that he'd met Nicholas Flamel in the 1920's and been a little put off immortality. He confessed that it had been brilliant for the first decade after the ritual that he'd performed to preserve his youth, then a combination of losing his allies (he'd called them allies rather than friends, which Hermione found even more depressing that the fact he was talking about people dying) to war and knowing that those that weren't arrested or killed would soon pass naturally convinced him that eternal life wasn't worth it. He informed her that he had already decided not to repeat the ritual again, so as soon as the term on this one ran out he would age naturally again until his time came.

The days had faded into monotony by now, the Malfoys were frustratingly absent although by now Hermione was sure she'd be able to identify every other death eater for the court. She didn't know whether Voldemort was there as she hadn't seen him enter or leave. She'd even asked Grindelwald if there was any way for a dark wizard to apparate inside wards. He'd laughed at her and told her that wards had a nasty habit of keeping dark wizards out. He'd then taught her a spell, based off the patronus charm, that repelled dark creatures and anyone who had more than moderately tampered with the dark arts. He'd told her there was no equivalent to keep out light wizards.

Hermione jerked back to the present as footsteps crunched through the snow. Dolohov dragged a pathetic looking Draco Malfoy behind him up to the castle. Finally, they were having some success. She poked Harry to make sure he was aware, and readied her wand.

'The dark lord will deal with you, your dedication to the cause is severely lacking.' The older death eater growled, Harry and Hermione shifted into a ready position and Harry held three fingers up.

Malfoy whined something and whimpered as Dolohov jerked on his arm. Harry held up two fingers.

They passed infront and Harry jumped up, sending stunning spells shooting from his wand. Hermione followed a fraction of a second afterwards, her spell nailing Malfoy in the chest right as Harry's glanced off Dolohov's ear. It wasn't enough to knock him out but it dazed him enough that Harry's next spell caught him dead on.

They grabbed a prisoner each and disapparated back to Nurmengard. Hermione ended up in the cells, panicked momentarily, then remembered that Grindelwald had warned them this would happen if they apparated in with prisoners. She passed through the door as if it were mist and sent a Patronus up to the castle's master to come and get them. She peered through the bars into the cell that held Malfoy, just as Harry walked through his door with a shiver.

'Reminds me of walking through a ghost.' Harry stated, then he grinned at Hermione triumphantly. 'Well we got him; I can't believe it took a whole week of lying in that bloody ditch.'

'Excellent! An extra!' Grindelwald announced from the end of the hallway. He walked towards them with his arms spread, peering into the two cells. Hermione knew immediately that he'd been performing powerful dark magic whilst they were away. It seemed like the aura swirled around him, battering the shields Hermione had shakily built.

He cast a quick spell over the two death eaters and turned around to lead them back through the labyrinthine fortress to their rooms. The two light wizards shared a concerned look, worried that the dark wizard was so intent on concealing what he was doing.

He dropped them off at their rooms before retreating down the corridor and out into the arena. Harry jerked his head after him and Hermione nodded, running after him.

'Gellert!' She called out, he stopped, half way up the stairs of the auditorium and waited for her to catch up with a confused expression on his face.

'Is something wrong?' He asked when she got close enough to not have to shout.

'Yes, er, no...' She paused and tried again, 'Harry and I are just concerned about what you've been up to.' She finally managed to get out. Unexpectedly, the dark wizard broke into a wide grin.

'I've been cleaning.' He said by way of explanation. Dread pooled in Hermione's stomach because that could mean anything. Housework definitely didn't require magic strong enough to cause the power high he was clearly on.

'Here, come, let me show you.' He said, leading her off into the depths of the castle. They passed through the living quarters (which were much cleaner, she noted.) and the cell blocks without stopping. They stopped at a floor just above the ward room and he pushed open a door into a massive, well lit chamber. The only furniture was a desk, without even a chair, on which sat several glass jars full of something black, a glass cup and a cardboard box. He hurried over to the jars, carefully opening a lid and levitating something out. She couldn't see what the item was as he let it drop into the glass cup, so she dared to approach the desk.

He looked up at her and smiled in a way that she was sure was meant to be reassuring. It did very little to help, because at the same time she could feel him gathering his power. He held up the cup so that she could see the contents – a single black flea.

'I got the idea from the spiders but you can't alter the corpse of an inferi – they're resistant to magic of course.' He said this as if it should be common knowledge. 'So I considered the imperius, but it would be nearly impossible to effectively control that many life forms, especially for them to effectively fight. Then when I read that muggle book about the bear from your bag, I realised that if I could create a hive mind, they would all operate independently but I could influence them with a suggestion.'

Grindelwald waved his wand and his magic surged powerfully through the wand, sending a shockwave-like pulse through the room. The flea in the jar jumped to life and began to ruthlessly attack the glass.

'We needed an army to take Malfoy Manor,' He explained. The contents of the glass jars writhed and she realised they was full of bugs, all trying to break free to attack the cup.

'That's terrifying.' Hermione murmured, backing away uneasily.

'Exactly, see? _Somnus!_ ' he snapped, flicking his wand at the jars which obediently stopped their frenzied assault on the glass. 'We needed a distraction before we went into the manor, now we have one that doesn't put a single person at risk.'

He led the shell shocked witch out of the room, detailing how large they could grow the bugs, how they were linked to one another and he'd witnessed them perform coordinated attacks in his tests.

'Gellert?' She interrupted him mid flow. He stopped abruptly and she realised he was hoping desperately for her approval. 'I think it's brilliant.' She told him sincerely.


	11. Chapter 11

They had a civilised dinner that evening, laid out across a table with several different dishes on offer. The elves that served them never appeared, but the serving platters were refilled every time Hermione glanced away. She enjoyed herself, the conversation light and easy as they talked about school.

Grindelwald seemed genuinely interested in their classes and easily shared what he remembered from school. She was surprised by how much difficulty he had remembering his classes; she could hardly imagine herself forgetting them. Apparently they arrived at school by floo – except for the first years who had to sail the ship up the Norwegian coast. Grindelwald swore up and down it was designed to get them used to being cold, wet and miserable.

They shared several jokes at the expense of Gilderoy Lockhart's duelling club and Delores Umbridge's takeover of the school, then laughed more are Gellert explained how he'd once mistaken a rat familiar for his hat.

They spent a long while discussing divination and Harry demonstrated his skills by reading their fortunes from the gravy boat, predicting great misfortune and the loss of a favoured pet for Grindelwald and the discovery of a true love who would betray her to love another for Hermione. Grindelwald declared that codswallop and used the reflection in his spoon to predict, in a terrifyingly accurate imitation of Trelawney, that Harry would discover his passion for farming and raise a herd to spotted cattle. He had just begun to warn Hermione that her owl would soon suffer a tragic injury when he suddenly froze mid sentence.

He sat completely still for several long seconds, staring off into the polished silver of his spoon. Hermione and Harry shared a concerned look before Hermione reached out to touch his shoulder. Just before her fingers brushed his jacket, he leapt to his feet sending his chair crashing to the floor behind him. Hermione jumped backwards with a squeak she hoped nobody had heard.

'He plans to attack the base in London tonight.' Grindelwald declared, rushing out of the dining room and into the corridor. Harry and Hermione followed him in a clamour of scraping chair legs and questions. The dark wizard reappeared seconds later wearing his long black coat and carrying a briefcase. 'I _saw_ it.' He said, as if that explained everything, which it did when Hermione remembered that he was a seer.

She hurried into her room, grabbing the beaded bag and sticking her wand into her jeans before following him out of the living quarters.

'London is an hour behind, it was dark when they attacked, so we have about two hours. We must attack Malfoy Manor immediately.'

'What about Grimmauld Place?' Harry protested, rushing to keep up with the rapid pace the older wizard set as they hurried down to the cells.

'Warn them immediately, if they don't have another safe house, send them here. Send us your patronus when you're done. If we begin our attack in time, we can hopefully divide the death eaters between the two locations.' Harry nodded and disapparated to warn the order to evacuate. Gellert left Hermione outside the two occupied cells with orders to ensure that Malfoy was silenced whilst he hurried to retrieve his army.

Fifteen minutes later, a whimpering Malfoy was side along apparated to his ancestral home. They ducked into the hedges that lined the driveway as a pair of cloaked and battle ready death eater's appeared at the gate only seconds after them. They were followed by several more, then more. They counted over a hundred apparating in in just the time that they had been sitting there. It seemed Voldemort had been recruiting.

They used the waiting time to disillusion themselves and lay the jars outside the three entrances to the manor grounds – each one with an engorgement rune sketched infront of it on the ground. Once the wards fell, Harry and Hermione would travel around the grounds, opening each jar and powering the engorgement rune as the creatures escaped to carry out their mission.

They returned to where the bound and gagged Malfoy waited in the hedge just as Harry's patronus arrived to let them know the order had begun their evacuation.

Hermione watched with bated breath as Grindelwald left with Malfoy. The dark wizard paused at the gates, then passed through without resistance. She watched him all the way up the drive and through the open front doors. Two green flashes indicated that he'd successfully disabled the guards and then he was gone.

She waited for fifteen minutes without indication of how their plan was proceeding before shouts indicated that the two dead guards had been found. She checked her bond with Grindelwald, glad to find that his magic was still mostly dormant as the lights blazed to life in the entrance hall. Then, less than half a minute later, the wards crashed down around the manor like a shattering glass dome. Death eater's poured out of the entrance, shouting and gesturing, any semblance of order in shambles at the unexpected attack.

Then Grindelwald's magic pulsed, the invisible wave of power sweeping through the property. The jar next to her writhed to life as she powered up the rune and opened the first jar. A sea of bugs crawled out, climbing over one another in their haste to achieve their goals. As they crossed the rune, their bodies began to swell. Ants and spiders that reached her waist scuttled away down the drive as she apparated to the next site. This time, wasps bigger than horses took off with a noise like a helicopter. At the next site, knee high fleas poured in a black river into the stables and blanketed the back lawn in black carapaces.

Then she was back at the front entrance which had descended into carnage. Spells flew everywhere even more effectively than they'd ever imagined, bouncing off the exoskeletons of the ants and slicing off the legs of spiders that just kept coming with the remaining seven. Hermione released the reinforcements from the fourth jar before apparating directly into the drawing room.

She was fortunate enough to get caught in the shockwave from a blasting curse from Grindelwald's wand. It threw her unshielded body into the wall where she collapsed behind a splintered table, shielding her from the notice of the two duelling dark wizards.

The room was devastated – cursed fire climbed the drapes, sand and broken glass coated the floor in a thick layer. Water fountained from a burst pipe in the wall, soaking shredded sheets and pillows. More water dripped from the ceiling, which was spider webbed with cracks.

Knowing that Grindelwald could hold his own, Hermione hurried down to the hall to the cellars that they'd been kept in last time. The guards must have abandoned their posts to join the battle because she encountered no resistance as she reached the stairs. She couldn't believe her luck when she then found Nagini guarding the occupied cells. She pulled an enchanted jar out of her beaded bag, took off the lit and lobbed it at the snake. The first one smashed harmlessly against the floor but the second landed right on top of the snake. It stopped it's curling advance, as the jar sucked the huge creature in, bending it into a U shape before sucking the entire animal in. Hermione slammed the lid on and pocketed her newest captive. Now with access to the cells, she blasted the barred door off its hinges, and found Flitwick waiting for her. The tiny professor waved in greeting, an unmistakable look of relief on his face.

'Miss Granger, it is very good to see you.' He squeaked. 'It sounds like you and Potter are causing as much havoc as usual.'

'That would be the bugs.' She told him as a mosquito flew past the tiny barred window with a sound like a jet aeroplane. Flitwick hastily led her over to the prone body on the floor – Ron was caked in a thick layer of blood and grime and his arm was cradled to his chest. She didn't pause to take any more in, knowing the Grindelwald couldn't last forever upstairs. She shoved a portkey into Flitwick's hand, the tiny wizard grabbed onto his student and the two of them were sucked into nothingness.

Mission accomplished, Hermione hurried back to the drawing room where Voldemort and Grindelwald duelled. The entire side wall had been blown away, bringing down a large section of the ceiling nearest the fireplace. The cursed drapes had caught fully and the flames had spread through the hole and into the room above them. Maggots coated the floor around Voldemort's feet, crunching beneath his boots and making him slip. The younger dark lord launched a conjured black snake at Grindelwald, which was eaten by a wintery wolf, which then charged at Voldemort and was melted into a puddle by a fire spell. The puddle formed into a tidal wave which split either side of Grindelwald and splashed against the walls. It was transfigured into oil, and squirted into Voldemort's eyes, then caught fire and left both dark wizards throwing fireballs as they climbed debris to get clear of the burning pool.

She climbed up onto the table, stepping across to a massive ceiling slab and scrambling up the back side of Grindelwald's pile. Above her she heard Grindelwald's grunt of pain as one of the fireballs seared a little too close to him, exploding against the wall behind Hermione and showering her with shards of hot stone.

There was a draconic roar as one of the wizards formed another beast, then another crash of falling stone as yet more of the room collapsed. Hermione lunged upwards the last couple of meters, grabbing Grindelwald's ankle and disapparating as the last of the ceiling and every floor above it finally gave way to gravity and thundered down where they had been only seconds ago.


	12. Chapter 12

They appeared into yet another battle, spells lit up the windows of Grimmauld Place, appearing for all the world like there was a TV on in every room. Hermione wiped her face with her hand and took in Grindelwald. He looked exhausted, his coat had charred where he'd been hit by the fireball and he was caked in thick white stone dust.

Hermione knew she looked little better, the heat had made her hair frizzy and she was fairly sure her back was caked in a similar mixture.

'Are you okay?' She asked, concerned. The wizard nodded, rolling his shoulders to prepare for yet another fight. Hermione was starting to feel they had spent more time fighting over the past couple of weeks than not. The days in the tent seemed almost idyllic now. The only thing that kept her going was the promise that some day, she would be able to walk down the street in complete freedom again.

'Are you? I think I managed to bring the house down on Voldemort too.' He joked with that one-sided smile. Hermione laughed.

'One day, everything will go back to how it was. That's how I keep going.' She told him. He was silent, standing up and stalking off into the house. She realised she'd put her foot in it spectacularly, of course he wouldn't want things to go back to how they were. He'd spent the last half a century in a prison cell with nothing but a cot.

She scrambled after him, but he'd already disappeared into the depths of the house. She was stopped half way up the stairs by a large death eater who only seemed to know the cruciatus curse. She disabled him within minutes, then bumped into Harry. There were still a couple of injured to move and he took one look at her before letting her take over the coordination.

Feeling guilty – after all, she'd actually done very little of the actual fighting today and she'd just been horrible to the man that was almost single handedly responsible for the continued survival of the order and who'd just risked his life to rescue her best friend.

She sent off the last of the wounded, then cast her patronus, sending it running through the rooms of the black house to signal the retreat before disapparating herself. She reappeared in the living quarters and tried Grindelwald's rooms but he wasn't there, so she rushed out of their quarters and into the general living quarters. It took her over an hour to get through the living quarters, everyone had questions or problems. She deferred most of them to Harry, confirmed the rumours that this was Nurmengard and that yes, they had taken down Malfoy Manor and rescued the prisoners with just the two of them, no she had not duelled You-Know-Who, that had been Grindelwald.

It was a relief to reach the bottom lower floors where the population density thinned. She reached the stairway that allowed access to the prisons and the lower levels and conjured a wall to conceal it. She knew that Gellert would consider it a nightmare if "heroes" found their way into the less savoury parts of the fortress. Despite that, she continued her search, voice ringing out as she called his name. She reached the ward room without finding him, so she apparated back to the living quarters and checked his room again. There was only one more place she could think of without having to enter unexplored unfamiliar areas of the fortress. She concentrated very carefully, then apparated.

She appeared in the occupied cell. Grindelwald stood in front of the window, staring down at the view. He must have known she was there, but he made no move.

'Gellert?' She began, he made no sound, so she ploughed on anyway. 'I'm sorry, it was thoughtless of me to say that.'

'It's true though. Once we have defeated You-Know-Who, you'll put me back in this cell and everything will go back to the way it was.' He held up his hand to stall her reply, 'I know, you don't want to but there's no choice.'

'There's always a choice, there'll be a trial, you've already served over fifty years and you're helping to defeat You-know-Who.'

'Would you give You-Know-Who freedom after fifty years in prison?' He asked her and she had already denied it before she realised what she'd said. Grindelwald just turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

She pulled out her wand and transfigured the cot in the corner into a four poster bed, opened her beaded bag and pulled out several of her muggle story books and stacked them in the corner. She banished the bars and laid an old blanket out on the floor in front of the doorway. Almost as an afterthought she changed the colour of the flames burning in the sconces from blue to golden.

'There. Now it won't be the same. It will be much more comfortable. Besides, this time you'll have visitors and a wand.' She said simply as Grindelwald gaped at her.

'I'm the worst dark wizard in history; you don't even know the half of what I'm capable of.'

'We'll so far all you've done is save me and my friends.' She reasoned and he made that small smile again. 'Now, come downstairs, you're a hero.' She laughed and Grindelwald scowled.

He really was; the story of how he'd taken Malfoy Manor with only Hermione and some bugs for backup had circulated through every witch or wizard in the fortress. That, and his almost impenetrable fortress had enough space for the entire Order of the Phoenix to live without having to have more than two to a bedroom.

Fortunately, they didn't have to go through the entire living area to reach Grindelwald's private quarters and they were in such an obscure location that nobody thought to wait for them in an auditorium of all places.

Harry was waiting for them and he greeted them with a tired yet happy smile when they entered. He had dinner waiting for them as well as a set of tweezers and some healing cream from the potions cupboard.

'Ron's awake. He's with Madame Pomfrey in the hospital wing recovering.' He told her as they sat down to tuck into the dinner the elves had prepared. Hermione pulled the jar containing Nagini out of her bag and dropped it down on the table.

'and I captured one snake.' She declared. It would only be a matter of days before they would be able to remove the last piece of Voldemort's soul from Harry.


	13. Chapter 13

Ron wasn't awake when Hermione went to visit him the next morning but he did look much better, the hand he'd been favouring was much cleaner and looked better wrapped in clean white bandages. Madame Pomfrey informed her that he was on a heavy dosage of sleeping draughts to try and get over the fever.

When Hermione arrived back at their private quarters, she found Grindelwald asleep over their research. She realised that he was topless – a huge burn scored from his shoulder to his hip down his back. A vial of burn ointment served as a paperweight on one of the scrolls, which explained why he wasn't wearing his customary shirt and three piece suit. She couldn't help but notice as she approached him that he was leanly muscular in the way she assumed Harry would mature to become.

She stoppered the vial and laid a blanket over him, banked up the fire and pulled the list of selectives and connectives towards her. They'd split the workload between them by now – Hermione's job was to come up with changes and intergrate the runes into the diagram, then Gellert would review it in detail, making sure that the changes didn't accidently interact with others in the spell.

They had yet to find a combination that they could guarantee worked, so they would keep going until they had.

It was during this time that Hermione realised that the document the Grindelwald was asleep over was not in fact something to do with the horcrux. Instead, it looked like the plans for Nurmengard. Interested, she levitated the sleeping wizard slightly and slipped the document out. The moment Grindelwald wasn't touching it, the writing faded. Hastily, she levitated his hand and slipped the map back underneath. The spidery lines reappeared.

She bent over them, quickly recognising the floors she had been to but surprised by a lot of their locations. The ward room was actually recessed back into the cliff behind the fortress, the corridor and staircase one used to access it were actually burrowing into solid rock. She's been correct that the living room was at the top of the slit in the front face, she hadn't realised that there was a balcony running the entire front face at this level.

She also hadn't realised how many defences there were beyond the wards. Of course the walls were thick but the rock was coated in manticore blood which gave it the unusual protective property of absorbing the energy of most spells. It also explained the ominous colouring of the exterior face as manticore blood dried to black. More medieval defence mechanisms, enhanced by magic, protected the entryway. Potions could be tipped out of holes in the ceiling above the entryway and down the first corridor to the staircase.

The first couple of floors had a number of checkpoints where one could shut a dragon hide backed door and create another defensive line, similar to the bulkheads on a ship. The unoccupied rooms on the lowest floors would be the first lost – storerooms, 'experiment rooms' as they were called, the duelling room and the potions laboratory (which could be rigged so that the more volatile ingredients exploded if anyone unwary entered.)

The prisons would be lost next, as well as the wardroom, which made sense because the wards would already be down by the time intruders got that far. Next to go would be the accommodation, but there was an assembly room further up, so she assumed they would already have been evacuated.

The final frontier as it were would be the assembly room (which she now realised was the auditorium). The heavy stone doors could be shut and barred, then a note underlined several times informed her that the carpets in the corridor were flammable.

She wondered if there were any other wizarding houses this well defended. Of course, it still checked all the boxes of a fine home with a ball room and library, a kitchen and enough accommodation to never leave anybody wanting but she supposed it was the only one built in wartime. Every other stately home, as she had discovered with Malfoy Manor, was relatively simple to take.

As engrossed as she was in the plans, Hermione was confused when the lines suddenly began to fade. She looked up to see Grindelwald had shifted his hand to stretch as he woke up. He winced as the scab across his back split and brought his arms down hurriedly, then noticed her and began to apologise profusely for his state of undress.

She laughed, telling him that propriety had changed and that it was now quite normal for men to be topless on warm days. The dark wizard didn't seem to believe her because he jumped to his feet and rushed to his room, returning a couple of minutes later with a fresh shirt and a necktie. He saw the document that she had been looking at and spread it out on the table again.

'I was thinking, we have so many people here now that they have to share rooms.' He began, pulling out a note in Harry's writing that listed the number of people in the castle. 'There are just over two hundred and twenty people here, but we have room for one hundred and fifty.'

'They won't be here forever.' Hermione reassured him, but Gellert shook his head frantically.

'I did not plan to take twenty five years to occupy wizarding Europe. Nothing goes as planned. No, I must make the top four floors of the prison into accommodation.' He concluded, tapping the aforementioned floors. 'How is your friend recovering? Ron?' He asked suddenly, catching Hermione off guard.

'He's resting, sleeping off a fever from an infected cut on his hand.' She answered, startled by his look of confusion.

'The medi-witch didn't remove the limb yet?' He asked in surprise.

'Why would she?' Hermione snapped.

'I saw him in my visions. I always _see_ when I sleep, he was recovering from a _manducarus_ curse.' He told her sincerely, worry creasing his brow. 'Hurry then, we must tell the medi-witch before it is too late.' Grindelwald said, jumping to his feet and tucking his shirt in.

They hurried through the deserted upper levels, it seemed most people were happy to remain in the living areas and not explore further than necessary. They burst into the infirmary and discovered that Madam Pomfrey and Andromeda were giving their patients a lunch time dosage. Hermione waved them over frantically and both witches put down what they were doing immediately to hurry over.

Grindelwald had already found Ron's bed and was busy unwinding the bandages around the sleeping boy's hand. A putrid smell filled the room as he unwound the last one, banishing it with a grimace. Ron whimpered, feeling the pain even through the potions.

'He has an infection.' Andromeda explained, an annoyed look on her face.

'No,' Grindelwald simply said, turning Ron's hand over with his own. ' _Manducarus_ curse. It eats the bones, spreading from the point of injury. There's no counter curse.' He said, looking at the two medi-witches meaningfully. They understood, because they both shared a solemn look.

'Are you certain?' Andromeda asked.

'I am a seer, I _saw_ him recovering from it.' He pulled out his wand and drew a long incision across the palm of Ron's hand. The skin and muscle split open underneath as if sliced open by a scalpel, Ron cried out in his sleep and both Andromeda and Madam Pomfrey leapt forwards with exclamations. Andromeda grabbed a painless potion and poured it down her patients throat before he could go any further. Grindelwald just shrugged as if he considered that to be an unnecessary addition to the process.

'I am a dark wizard, not a healer.' He said innocently as both medi-witches glared at him. He used his wand to lift out one of the delicate bones from his hand. He cleaned off the tiny white chip and handed it to Madam Pomfrey. She was silent for a couple of seconds as she examined it, then passed it to Andromeda with a grim expression. Finally they nodded and turned back to Grindelwald.

'How far has it spread?' Madam Pomfrey asked, rolling up her sleeves. Hermione swallowed and bolted from the room.


	14. Chapter 14

It had been a long couple of hours as Hermione waited with Harry and the Weasley clan in their accommodation. The huge family had taken over the floor closest to the rooms where Harry and Hermione lived with Grindelwald. The family had been giving her strange looks ever since she arrived and it was beginning to grate on her nerves so she finally pulled Harry aside and asked him about it.

'You've changed a lot in the last couple of weeks. They've noticed is all.' He said, going to leave.

'Changed? How?' Hermione demanded, grabbing him by the upper arm. She didn't feel any different, she wasn't dressing any differently.

'Just... you?' Harry tried, gesturing at all of her. She squeezed his arm warningly. 'You're more confident, powerful. I mean, you were always strong but these past few weeks... It's like there's this level – Dumbledore, Grindelwald, You-Know-Who, they're all incredibly powerful. We always knew you'd be brilliant of course but suddenly it seems like you'll be up there with them. I mean, we all noticed today when you walked in and boiled the water.'

It was true, she conceded, she had boiled the water wandlessly when she'd first arrived but that was only because she and Gellert had been working on it almost constantly and it had practically become habit. She'd summoned quills, levitated logs and books at every opportunity and boiled water more times than she could count. She had made the drinks by hand though, Grindelwald could do even that without looking.

'I'm nowhere near them.' Hermione told him honestly and Harry looked at her with that expression that was much older than his years.

'Not yet but you will be some day. They've been doing this for 100 years longer than you.' He said, pulling his arm out of Hermione's shocked fingers and going into the bathroom.

Hermione spent the rest of the evening in a daze, barely answering questions and picking at the dinner that the elves delivered. A paper crane arrived at just past seven to let them know that Ron was well on his way to recovery, and asking Hermione to come down to the ward room.

She did as she was asked, meeting Grindelwald at the room in the castle that she most hated. He stood outside the doorway, hands shoved into his pockets, leaned up against the wall and looking for all the world like he'd just gotten off a boy band photoshoot. He looked up as she approached, and pushed off from the wall.

'Hermione.' He greeted.

'How's Ron?' She asked immediately.

'Well on his way to recovery. They had to remove his wand arm up to just below his elbow but he's improving quickly now.' Came the reply, Hermione stifled a sob. 'I need you to do something for me.' He continued.

'What do you need?' She asked curiously.

'The wards need recharging. I want to key you in to them in case something happens to me.' Hermione baulked, 'You don't need to perform the ritual; I just need you to be inside the circle when I do it.' Ghosts of remembered sickness squirmed through her stomach at just the thought but she understood the sense in what he was saying. It would be silly to have the wards collapse just because she couldn't manage a little queasiness. She agreed, surprised by how relieved he looked when she did.

'The second thing is to cast that ward I told you about – the one to repel dark magic, around the living quarters.' He fiddled awkwardly with the hem of his necktie.

'Why can't you? I don't know if I could maintain it in there.' She asked him. He jumped back and for the first time real fear crossed his face.

'Maggots.' He muttered, blushing. Realisation dawned on Hermione.

'You can't cast a patronus?' Hermione murmured in horror, she'd never actually heard of anyone who genuinely couldn't. He shook his head.

'I couldn't when a lethifold attacked one of my lieutenants. I filled the room with feindfyre and burned the maggots and my lieutenant to death with the creature. _Für das Größere Wohl_ ' His old slogan sounded bitter on his tongue.

'You've changed though. I think you're still changing. One day you will.' She told him. He smiled at her placatingly, clearly disbelieving. 'Yes, if you insist, I'll cast it for you. Make sure I get it right.'

She turned and begun the spell. It was rather simple really, the same process as casting a patronus, but with a different wording. The spell slipped from her wand like silver silk, running along the floor and up the walls. It pulsed slightly, flowing into the walls and encompassing everything upstairs of them. Pure joy flowed through her as the her magic continued to flow, when the ward sealed and the magic cut off, she suddenly felt cold and isolated.

She reached forwards, seeing the slight shimmer in the air and passing her hand through it without resistance.

Grindelwald was watching her with fascination, he stepped forwards and reached out his hand. He hesitated, right before he touched the silvery shield, then pushed forwards and touched him. There was a sharp pop and he leapt backwards, hissing and cradling his hand. He glared at the silvery barrier resentfully and then inspected the damage to his hand. The wound healed before their eyes – burned skin knitting back together as if he'd never been injured.

His eyes lit up with the academic interest she knew so well on her own features. She knew he was dying to experiment with the charm and recognised the exact moment that he realised that for once, this experiment was beyond his grasp.

He stalked off into the ward room, throwing the doors open for Hermione to follow. He waited for her at the ring of fire, lifting her over the flames so that they didn't even brush her feet. He then stepped straight through.

'The fire will kill anyone who does not share my convictions.'

'The stuff you used when you tried to burn down the whole of Paris.' She asked. He grinned at her, obviously pleased that she'd heard of it.

'An error in judgement, wouldn't have even left enough for inferi.' He admitted. They walked across the floor together to where the alter stood in the middle of the table. Hermione tried to still her trembling hands and looked anywhere but the skulls leering at her from the top of the pile. Grindelwald climbed the stairs, stopping in front of the pile.

He turned back to look at her, offering a reassuring smile and a hand. She took it, embarrassed at how badly she trembled but he said nothing. Once she was standing next to him, he released her hand and faced her.

'Let me touch your magic, I'll guide it where it needs to go. Just focus on keeping that shield up, I think it will help you.' She nodded and felt his magic brush up against hers, she forced herself not to shy away and took his hand to reassure herself with the magical connection. He stiffened at the contact, then smiled at her. She managed a shaky one in return.

He started without warning, which she was glad of because she would have backed out if he'd waited any longer. It was a thousand times worse than the last time, her magic rebelled against Grindelwald's every touch and she knew that without her cooperation he'd never be able to finish the ritual correctly. She tried to focus on the patronus shield but his presence and the dark magic were building and pressing down on her with crushing force.

She started seeing spots but the pile of bones had barely begin to disintegrate, she knew she couldn't last the entire enchantment. Then suddenly Grindelwald was there, in her mind, he coaxed her magic into obedience, twining it with his own as he continued to chant. Sweat trickled down his face as he guided her mind back to the patronus shield, continuing to twist her magic with his own and casting his spell as the same time. She focused on the ward upstairs, feeling detached from her own body. With his darkness muffling that of the spell, and with him blocking her senses from inside her mind, she didn't even realise the spell was finished until she felt the sudden tug on her magic and his presence suddenly disappeared from her mind as he fully focused on the completion of the spell.

He struck the stone altar with his wand and the runes sparked alight, Hermione's magic whispered along with it, a trickle to the roaring river of Grindelwald's. Sickness washed over her and she clapped her free hand over her mouth, absolutely certain that vomiting on the runes would ruin the enchantment.

When she regained some of her sense of time and place and could focus on something other than not being sick, she opened her eyes and saw Grindelwald on his hands and knees.

'At least we never have to do that again.' He panted. Hermione would have smiled if she didn't feel so sick. The dark wizard pushed himself up using the altar, pausing for a couple of seconds reconstruct him usual mask. 'Let's get you some chocolate in bed, you did very well.'

He lifted her over the fire again on the way out, explaining that he didn't want to risk the fire not changing even if the wards had then she started off up the corridor as he walked through and shut the doors behind him. He called out to her when she was half way up the corridor and she remembered with some surprise that she still held the patronus ward in place.

She ended the charm and they stumbled their way back up to their rooms for a well deserved rest.


	15. Chapter 15

**I am getting the most spectacular rainbow-lines-of-doom across my screen. Please excuse spelling and grammar mistakes (or even better let me know about them in your reviews so that I can fix them) as I'm just trying to write and upload as much as possible before I have to start writing on a phone. Enjoy.**

She'd asked him to teach her how to duel, a decision she was beginning to regret as they faced off against one another in the duelling room. It was one of the biggest rooms in the castle and had been one of the most heavily used. It had been where Grindelwald's followers trained and prepared for their upcoming battles but it was an area yet to be discovered by the order.

'Cast anything but the killing curse. I'll assess where you are at the moment.' He told her, standing casually at his end. Hermione adjusted her grip on her wand and widened her stance slightly, waiting for him to pull out his wand. He just stood there, the silence stretched.

He twisted his hand and suddenly she was on her knees with her hands bound and her wand was in his hands.

'Lesson one, strike first.' He said as her face burned red in embarrassment. He'd moved so quickly that she hadn't even had time to react. 'If you let your opponent strike first, you start out on the defensive. If you are on the offence, you dictate the fight.' He released the magic that held her and tossed her wand back.

'Again.' He demanded, once more standing unarmed in front of her.

She didn't make the same mistake twice, casting a tickling hex and sending a jelly legs curse following behind it before the first had even reached her opponent. Grindelwald's shield flashed brightly as the two spells hit but Hermione's pause to make sure he'd deflected them cost her. His wandless magic was invisible and once again had her bound and on the floor.

'Lesson two, always have a shield charm, even if you don't believe you need it.' He tossed her wand back, then looked at her more kindly. 'Don't hold back, I can defend myself. You must push yourself to learn.'

She nodded, cheeks burning again as she stood and cast a shield charm. Grindelwald was already shaking his head. He demonstrated a different shield – slightly more like a ward that a charm. He instructed her that it should be permenantly maintained so that she could never be caught by surprise.

They resumed, this time Hermione pounded him with spell after spell, casting whatever came to mind as quickly as she could. She alternated between spoken and wordless magic, trying to mislead him as to the number of spells being cast. Grindelwald took her assault for several minutes, letting each attack dissapate harmlessly against his shields, then he began to retaliate. It was weak at first – occasional jinxes, all spoken and using large, obvious wand movements. He slowly refined his technique, testing her defense. Soon she was completely on the defensive as he sent a massive variety of spells at her. She burned a swarm of wasps, melted ice, froze water, deflected missiles and dodges bolts of light. He started shouting instructions – move more, cast faster, reinforce her shield, deflect rather than fight.

Harry appeared into the midst of this, not realising the peril he ran out into and becoming victim to a powerful nose bleed charm deflected from Hermione's shield. He swore and cursed as the light of magic faded, Hermione rushing over to mutter the counter curse and apologise.

'There's people outside.' He declared, to which both Hermione and Grindelwald froze.

'Death eaters?' Hermione demanded tersely.

'No, they're not wearing cloaks.'

Grindelwald nodded and hurried out of the duelling room and down to the entrance hall, summoning his coat from upstairs. Hermione rushed after him, doubting the visitors had friendly intentions.

When they reached the massive gates, McGonagall and Kingsley were already talking to the group of witches and wizards through the closed portcullis

'Who are you and why are you here? Where is the prisoner.?' The leader demanded with a strong French accent.

'I am here.' Grindelwald called as he strode down the hallway, opening the portcullis with a wave of his hand. Several of the visitor gasped and one wizard gave a feminine squeak. 'I assume you are an envoy from the ICW?' He asked politely, barely disguising his sneer as he looked over their purple robes.

The envoy nodded, although he was whiter than a ghost and was fumbling in the folds of his cloak for his wand. His escorts took even longer and looked as if they'd like nothing more than to turn tail and run.

'Please, come in and allow us to explain the situation. We can talk over tea.' He extended his hand cordially, gesturing to a doorway just inside the entryway. The envoy and his escorts shared a long, uncertain look before one of them finally plucked up the courage to step under the porticullis and Hermione opened the door that Grindelwald gestured to. She stepped inside first, surprised to find herself in an impressive and lavishly decorated entertaining room. A fireplace surrounded by a massive stone overmantel featuring roaring dragons, battling unicorns and manticores.

A huge banner hung on the wall opposite, displaying Grindelwald's hallows symbol, which was also engraved into the oak table which dominated the centre of the room. Two crystal chandeliers lit the room brightly enough to make reading easy but not so bright as to be uncomfortable.

The envoy and his entourage filed in after her, followed by Kingsley, McGonagall and finally Grindelwald. He looked around at the decoration and huffed.

'I must have forgotten to update the decorations in here.' He said apologetically, waving his wand. The hallows symbol on the tapestry disappeared, replaced by a massive golden phoenix. The engraving on the table changed to match, the black and silver upholstery changing to crimson and gold to match the new banner. He poked his wand at the empty fireplace and a roaring fire burst into life, rapidly warming the room.

Everyone watched in silence as the dark wizard picked up a black kettle, using his wand to fill it with water before hanging it on a hook above the fire. He then turned and rested one arm against the backs of one of the manticores, facing the visitors to his castle.

'I assume you've been sent by the ICW to confirm rumours that Nurmengard is occupied again.' He asked the envoy. Hermione watched with interest, the room was clearly designed to impress but he'd filled the kettle himself as if he were an ordinary wizard. Then he leaned against the fireplace, completely relaxed but in command of the situation. She was ready to bet that he had intentionally used wandless magic to open the gate earlier to remind them just how he was not a wizard to be trifled with.

'Nearby residents saw lights on at night and it was reported that the wards had been recharged.' One of the wizards reported smartly as if he were reading from a report.

'That is correct. May I introduce you to Hermione Granger, best friend of Harry Potter. She came to me in an hour of great need in her fight against the organisation currently terrorising Great Britain.' He drew the attention of everyone in the room to her and not knowing what else to do, Hermione nodded to them in greeting.

'I'm sure you are aware that this Dark Lord broke into my prison and tortured me for information several months ago? No? Well, I have agreed to assist the Order of the Pheonix in their fight to free Britain.' He used a long metal hook to lift the whistling kettle out of the fire and wandlessly summoned a tea tray from a small table in the corner. He served coffee for everyone and passed it around the table, offering a small jar of sugar and a pitcher of milk.

'So this order of the phoenix would free a dragon to fight an ant.' The envoy surmised, glaring disbelievingly at the the three order members.

'Oh, he's certainly no ant. Hermione witnessed the injuries I sustained duelling him a couple of nights ago when we rescued prisoners from his head quarters.' He paused in his prowel around the room, wincing as he touched his fingers to the burns down his back. Again, Hermione noted, displaying weakness right after strength.

'You might have heard that he defeated Albus Dumbledore last year?' McGonagall added, introducing herself as the teacher of transfiguration and emphasising how Hogwarts had fallen. Kingsley then chimed in, describing the takeover of the ministry and highlighting the changes when he saw their disbelieving expressions.

'The ICW was not aware that the situation was so dire in the United Kingdom.' One of the witches murmered to her colleague. Grindelwald laughed sharply.

'I don't claim to be an expert in such matters, but it's usually advisable to avoid international notice when staging a take over of a government.' He said airily, reaching to refill his cup and offering it around the table. She suddenly realised what all the adults were trying to do – Drawing connections between how Grindelwald had taken over Europe and how You-Know-Who was now taking over Britain. Meanwhile, Gellert threw in those human touches, reminding them that he was an accessible and extremely attractive ally.

'Unfortunately, the last of the order's strongholds was attacked a couple of nights ago. We came here with nowhere else to go.' Hermione added sadly, playing up her age. 'Gellert was kind enough to offer to keep us safe whilst we recovered. Most of us are just students that were at Hogwarts when it was attacked.' She must have gotten something right because the faces of all the ICW representatives softened.

'Don't vorry dearest, ve vill see vhat ve can do.' A witch with a startling resemblance to Madam Bones reached over the table to grasp her hand reassuringly. Hermione tried to a grateful expression that came out rather shaking, almost seeming to enhance the effect.

'Of course, there is the matter of insurance. The ICW will not stand the chance that we may have a second global wizarding war.' Their leader said matter of factly, sounding awfully like Fudge.

'You needn't worry. I have sworn a wand oath to Miss Granger and I have no doubt she shall return me to my cell once this is all over, although I hope the ICW will not mind that she agreed to give me a proper bed and some curtains in exchange for my help.'

This made most of the visitors crack a smile as they stood and shook hands with the order members, promising to plead their case to the ICW. Hermione found herself enveloped in several hugs by sympathetic foreign witches and forced herself to look grateful as they filed through the door and out of the castle.


	16. Chapter 16

**This is a reviewed chapter 16. As I have mentioned before, I am uploading this as I write just to get it off my computer. I was unhappy with the old chapter 16 so I took it down and re uploaded it. It follows a similar plot line just with more details.**

 **Apologies, Bey.**

Hermione supposed there were definite perks to the "side effects of dark magic" as Grindelwald called his lack of sleep. Of course there were less desirable side effects like Voldemort's appearance but she could have used only needing three hours of sleep per week during exam time.

He had demonstrated the usefulness of this to full extent over the past week since the ICW had visited. The top levels of the cells were now accommodation, much to the delight of the order as they'd now not have to share rooms for the first time since Hermione could remember.

They had had the first ever meeting of the entire order in the auditorium, cramming witches, wizards and children inside as Grindelwald officially welcomed them to Nurmengard. He then introduced himself, explaining that after being tortured for information by the Dark Lord, (Hermione was certain that every member present could hear his contempt as he spoke the title) he had offered his assistance to Hermione. He'd then confirmed and denied several rumours – yes they had taken Malfoy Manor, yes there was a death eater in the cells...

In a move far more organised than the order had ever experienced before, he then divided everyone into groups, assigning jobs and positions in case of an attack. He described the defences in brief detail, cautioned everyone that they would automatically appear in the cells if they along-side apparated anyone new in.

Schooling had recommenced for the ex-Hogwarts students with an almost entirely different curriculum. Flitwick had taken charge over redecorating and furnishing, assisted in his endeavours by Fleur Delacour. Students assigned to him for the day would spend a day transfiguring furniture and performing colour changing charms, leaving golden phoenixes scorching their way through crimson upholstery where Grindelwald's symbol had been before. McGonagall, Lupin and Tonks all worked together to clear out the storage rooms, sorting them into useful, harmless, broken and dark artefacts. This class quickly became the second favourite, daily practical encounters with boggarts, dark artefacts and fascinating historical relics making it difficult for those with even the shortest attention span to get bored.

Potions class took up in the massive laboratories, restocking Madam Pomfrey's supply of healing potions and replenishing the list of offensive potions that would be needed to defend the castle if they came under attack. Grindelwald had listened when Flitwick suggested that some students may wish to continue divination, then gathered every student in Hogwarts together in the auditorium and given them possibly the only fascinating divination lecture they'd ever heard. After which he had declared that if any of them believed they might have the sight, to come directly to him, for everyone else, their divination career was over.

Harry reconvened Dumbledore's Army, this time open to every student and with the full backing of every adult in the organisation. Ron was well on his way to recovery and had rejoined his family in their living area. He was a frequent addition to Dumbledore's army, using a borrowed wand and relearning magic with his left hand.

They'd continued Hermione's private duelling lessons, frequently inviting Harry along as a duelling partner and to prepare him for his eventual showdown against Voldemort. These duelling sessions were far more gruelling than any test, Grindelwald pushing them to exhaustion as he battered their shields. Hermione felt like she was going nowhere until she took on Ginny in a DA meeting, she had the witch disarmed and disabled in seconds, then spent the rest of the assigned fifteen minutes stroking her bruised ego.

Every spare minute between organising the school/resistance movement was spent working on the horcrux. They finally thought they had a solution, but the ritual was far more complex than just some runes on the floor. Gellert was little better than average with potions but could at least supply a well stocked store cupboard and a brewing stand far better than a bathroom. Several order members had been sent to find obscure ingredients that had expired – Devil's Snare, Erumpent Tails, Fresh Leeches and Pomegranate Juice. Hermione had brewed the potion with little difficulty whilst Grindelwald had etched the ritual into the floor of one of his "experiment rooms".

Harry had found a plastic lion figurine whilst trying to buy the pomegranate juice and had bought it, triumphantly declaring that it would be the perfect host to receive the part of Voldemort's soul. It had been the subject of a good laugh over the dinner table, and neither of them could see a reason why it wouldn't work, so they agreed.

Gellert hadn't let either of them be present for the ritual, telling them that he didn't need the distraction of them getting sick. They'd both complained lightly but had understood, instead casting the patronus ward around the room he was working in and focusing on maintaining the ignorance of the other residents of the household.

The transfer worked perfectly and Grindelwald emerged after an hour with a very confused snake (or Maledictus as he claimed it was) and a nastily enchanted lion. He'd then proceeded to keep his distance as Harry and Hermione argued over whether they should destroy the horcrux now or later.

Harry had wanted to keep the horcrux for a while to gloat about how they'd forced Voldemort into lion form but Hermione had insisted they let Grindelwald use his well known feindfyre to destroy it straight away. She didn't know whether the cursed object would have the same effect on a wizard already as dark as Grindelwald as it did on them and she certainly didn't want to find out.

They were still arguing when Nagini bit the figurine in half, the screaming black snake that tried to attack her in retaliation proving that Maledictus venom was indeed one of the few substances able to kill a horcrux. Grindelwald had flicked his wand and blasted the wraith with fiendfyre before it could manage any lasting damage and the second last horcrux had been dealt with.

Harry thanked the snake in parseltongue, then translated several seconds of hissing and spitting into a threat on Grindelwald's life for killing her boyfriend. Geller t seemed to know exactly what she was talking about, despite the younger wizard's confusion.

'Credence made his own choice.' He answered, which preceded another couple of seconds of what Hermione could only describe as outraged hissing. 'I influenced him, that is true. I did try to keep him alive though. He said, seeming do draw the same conclusion as Hermione.

Harry translated as the snake informed Grindelwald that the only reason she hadn't already strangled him was because he'd just saved her from... Harry explained that he'd edited that part but she'd essentially described Voldemort in unsavoury terms.

The snake then attached herself to Harry for the remainder of the evening and they disappeared off into his room to hiss at each other. They were still hissing together come dinner time and the elves seemed to be slightly confused as to whether a Maledictus qualified as human or animal because they'd laid her a place at the table.


	17. Chapter 17

**Please re-read chapter 16 if you haven't since I fixed the chapter. (Two hours before I posted this.)**

 **I just want to thank everyone for their support and reviews. I don't reply unless there's a question but I still really appreciate them.**

They retired to the living room after dinner and Hermione got to relax for the first time in weeks. She leaned back in the chair, then leapt up as something brushed past her hair. Harry laughed uproariously and the snake that had been draping herself over Hermione's chair said something.

'She says she wants girl time.' Harry translated as Hermione sat back down cautiously. The snake draped her head over Hermione's shoulder and settled down as if to read her book with her. She soon realised Nagini actually was reading the tales of Beedle the Bard when she aggressively slammed her tail over the book when Hermione tried to turn the page too soon.

'Nagini and I were talking earlier.' Harry began cautiously.

'We noticed.' Gellert remarked dryly without looking up from Hermione's copy of _Animal Farm_.

'You see, we're almost ready to face You-Know-Who and end this but nobody has any idea where he is. If I know anything about him, he'll be terrified of you Gellert, maybe even more so than he was of Dumbledore.' Harry seemed to have really thought something out, so Hermione put her book down. Nagini flicked her tongue in Hermione's ear and focused on Harry too. 'When I was in the graveyard, he summoned the death eaters and they all seemed to know exactly where to come. So I wonder if maybe anyone with a dark mark can find him?'

'You want to free Dolohov?' Grindelwald asked, seeming to see where Harry was going with this. Nagini began to hiss enthusiastically.

'He can take Nagini back to Voldemort. We give her a port key and once she knows where he's hiding she can come back and tell us.'

They decided to execute the plan that night. Hermione created a port key for the snake and Gellert found a dark artefact to disguise the sudden lightening of her presence. They didn't know if Voldemort would be able to sense the missing horcrux, so to protect Nagini, Harry asked Hermione to add a parseltongue code word that she could use to activate the port key early.

The snake ate both devices, complaining about the taste of the woollen strand that Hermione used as the portkey and taking several minutes to figure out the best angle of attack to eat the necklace that Grindelwald gave her.

They shut her in a cage down the corridor from Dolohov, Harry complaining loudly enough for the dead to hear that she'd been useless for information and Hermione making a joke that at least Voldemort would miss her. They banged the cage door then left, Harry shouting back at Hermione not to bother warding the door because it was just a snake.

Harry's real stroke of genius was how to get a wand to Dolohov without putting anyone at risk and they'd taken inspiration from muggles to manage it. Hermione put on the jacket she'd borrowed from Grindelwald. It was much too large for her but the thick felt meant that it held its shape, disguising three leather bags full of blood replenishing potion. It was the best they could come up with at short notice, it smelled right and was the right consistency. Hopefully Dolohov wouldn't notice in the blue sconces of the prison that the colour was a little too orange.

Nagini appeared with Dolohov after only a short wait, slithering around the corner to where Hermione sat guard at the doorway. She pretended to be engrossed in a book and that she hadn't noticed the escaping prisoners. At the last minute she pretended to notice, jumping to her feet and whipping out the wand she'd taken from the pile of captured wands in the storage rooms. It worked for her just enough to make it look like she put up a feeble fight, but Nagini was easily able to lunge forwards, nicking the bag in Hermione's left shoulder. Hermione cried out in false agony, then in real agony as Nagini's weight drove her to the floor, cracking her knee caps against the stone.

The snake went for her other shoulder, dragging Hermione down to the floor, then one last lightning fast strike to her side. Hermione moaned and let the borrowed wand roll from her fingers, slipping a _Feinting Fancy_ into her mouth discretely. She blacked out within seconds.

She woke up to see Harry and Grindelwald leaning over her with triumphant expressions.

'It worked, they reached the woods and disapparated a couple of minutes ago.' Harry told her. Hermione sat up slowly, wincing as her bruises made themselves known.

'Are you okay?' Gellert asked, concern laced through his voice. She nodded, shrugging off his coat and handing it back to him. He held it up and inspected the stained holes with pursed lips but she could see he was only pretending to be annoyed. He then gave it back to her to hide her stained t-shirt.

'Yeah, just bruises. Nagini was heavier than I expected. Some bruise paste and I'll be fine.'

They helped her up and she hobbled up the many flights of stairs, through the living quarters to reach their own. It was very quiet at this time of night in the lower 'student floors' of the accommodation. They only met one patrolling prefect, whose badge was now a gold phoenix emblem on a black field. It had been an interesting decision by the general student body to replace the Hogwarts emblem with that of the phoenix, one that the teachers had agreed with once they had explained that this was hardly a Hogwarts education.

The fifth year nodded at them respectfully and let them know that Ron was looking for Hermione. She nodded, wondering what this could possibly be about and they continued. By the time she had climbed up several floors, the blood flow was helping her recover, so she could almost walk normally again.

They stopped at the Weasley floor which they had turned into a single massive living area for the whole family. It was predictably rowdy inside, Mrs. Weasley shouting for Ginny to do her homework and Ginny screamed back that she would find time later. The rest of the family just sat back and let the dramatics unfold. Gellert seemed flabbergasted as the two witches exercised their lungs whilst everyone else just talked over the top of them.

The argument ceased as soon as the trio entered, Mrs. Weasley sweeping them all (including Grindelwald) into a hug. She bustled them over to the couches, everyone pushing up to make space. For the first couple of minutes it seemed like everything was back to normal between her and the Weasleys. Ginny was brilliant, chattering about Dumbledore's Army and her lessons. She explained how she'd found a plaque with a thestral head on it and had been fascinated to finally see one for real, so Hermione told the story of how her and Grindelwald had escaped from Hogwarts.

She was half way through the story when Ron appeared in the doorway. She recognised immediately that he was angry but she was still unprepared when he lashed out.

'And then you avada'd everyone to prove just how brilliantly your apprenticeship as a dark witch was going.' He sneered, cutting her off as she described how they'd blasted their way through the chimney. She opened her mouth to say something defensive, but Grindelwald replied before she could think of something suitable.

'and I told her that anyone who considered an avada to be dark magic really had very little hope at world domination.' He said it so blankly that it was as if he was seriously finishing off Ron's ending. It threw everyone for a couple of seconds before George laughed uproariously and clapped the dark wizard on the back. Ron turned a furious shade of purple as the rest of the room returned to their conversations without paying him any mind.

There was a loud bang and Hermione's shield flashed bright enough to blind everyone in the room. A second, much louder bang silenced the confused shouting. Grindelwald was standing, facing the enraged Weasley across the room. His dark presence seemed to crackle around him, dimming the lights and chilling the air as if he was a dementor.

'Count yourself fortunate that Hermione had a shield. If you'd succeeded in injuring the mistress of the house, the wards wouldn't have left enough of you for your family to bury. If you try it again, I'll make you wish that the wards had had a go at you.' Ron made a show of ignoring his threat, which seemed very brave but to everyone watching was very, very stupid. 'Leave. Before I do something your family won't forgive me for.' The dark wizard growled. When Ron swaggered impertinately forwards, he flicked his wand and the young red head stiffened and his face blanked over. He turned woodenly and marched into the bathroom like a toy soldier. They heard a splash before the toilet flushed.

Grindelwald sent one last glare after him before sitting down and apologising to everyone present. Ron started swearing and banging on the locked bathroom door. Harry cast a _muffliato_ charm in his directions and shifted seats to give Hermione a hug. It was Ginny that broke the silence.

'I don't suppose there's any of those cells free?' She asked Grindelwald with an evil flicker in her eyes. 'It's just I wouldn't want Ron's head to block the toilet.'


	18. Chapter 18

Hermione wasn't able to sleep that night, her mind too full of what she had done to upset Ron and what she should have said to defend herself. All sorts of intelligent, brave and insulting ideas ran through her mind, even as she acknowledged that Grindelwald had done a masterful job of removing him from the room without upsetting the rest of the family.

She got up as soon as she heard Grindelwald moving around after one of his rare brief sleeps and emerged into the living room in her pyjamas. He looked up as she came in, then looked away quickly when he realised that she was wearing a pair of shorts, muttering something about propriety. She looked down at her legs; it was an old pair of men's swimming trunks that ended just above her knees. She shrugged and settled under a blanket in front of the fire with a book. Gellert came and joined her not long after with a hot chocolate and they both settled into their books until the sun rose.

She watched the sunrise from the massive windows and Gellert, noticing her awe, showed her how to get out onto the balcony. She took a deep breath of fresh air, realising that it was the first time she'd been outside in days.

'We need a garden.' She told him. He gave her a look.

'This is a fortress, for war, it is not a home. It doesn't need a garden.' He said sharply and Hermione turned to look at him in the light of the new sun.

'I think this is a home now, the people here, we have nowhere else to go. At the end of the war, I think a lot of us will want to stay, if you let us.' She told him. He seemed genuinely surprised at this and took a few minutes to process what she'd said.

'What about you?' He asked her curiously. She nodded thoughtfully.

'I obliviated my parents and sent them to Australia. I guess if you don't mind?' She asked nervously. He gave her that half smile.

'I'll make sure the wards are charged.' He told her sincerely, 'and I'll stretch the muggle repelling charm to the forest. The grounds won't be under the blood wards, but they hardly need defending. Would you like to see the village?' He asked suddenly.

'There's a village?' She asked in surprise. She had never imagined they were actually close to civilisation. He nodded and led her out through the front gate.

They wandered down the steep track, and for the first time Hermione revelled in the stunning surroundings. The Austrian alps were blanketed in thick green, snow gleaming a crisp white in the crevasses. They was only one town nearby which he'd carefully left untouched and he took her there for the morning. It was a long walk, descending down the mountainside and into vibrant woodland.

The town was nestled in a bend in the river, all little stone houses with grey tiled rooves and whitewashed walls. It was a fascinating tourist town, famous for a set of waterfalls that froze over winter to become ice climbing hot spots.

There was a small museum dedicated to the history of ice climbing in the town – a whole room dedicated to a group that had tried to climb the waterfall on the eastern side of the valley in 1942 and had gone missing. Grindelwald was carefully blank as they looked over the recovered gear and blandly informed Hermione that they could probably find the bodies in a mass grave in Germany.

They left the museum around lunchtime and Hermione excused herself to the bathroom. When she returned he had moved from the bench where she'd left him and was speaking to several old men, the rapid flow of German far beyond the few words Hermione knew. Hermione appeared at his shoulder, recognising the older men as muggles, probably around eighty.

'They claim to recognise me from the 1940's.' He explained to her in English. Hermione frowned and played along, commenting that his grandfather had served in Austria during the war. She asked if the men had ever known a Lieutenant Granger, and wouldn't it be incredible if he really had served in this town. Grindelwald quickly picked up on the theme of excited tourist, and translated what she'd said in a rapid stream of German.

The three older men quickly seemed bored by the conversation as it turned from a mystery into the mundane and left quickly.

'I've never heard you speak your own language before.' She remarked as they wandered down one of the wide streets.

'None of you would understand me if I did.' He joked, then said something in German. She looked at him blankly and he laughed.

'I know some words!' She argued reproachfully.

'Let me hear, Mäuschen.'

'What does that mean?' She demanded, knowing from his expression that he'd just called her a pet name.

'You don't know that one!' He teased. 'Tell me what you know and I'll tell you what Mäuschen means.'

'Fine, I only know a few.' She admitted and he gestured for her to continue. 'Okay, I know Schnell, they use that one in the movies, oh and Danke, that's thanks. Nein is no.' She paused, wracking her brain for any more but nothing came to mind.

'Ja is yes,' He told her, laughing. 'Mäuschen means little mouse. It is what we call children or family.'

She gaped at him.

'I am not a mouse!' She exclaimed, chasing after him as he turned into a bakery.

They returned to Nurmengard soon after lunch, both exhausted from the long walk but feeling invigorated. Hermione hadn't realised how much she'd missed being outside. She was surprised how relaxed Harry was, she'd completely forgotten to leave a note explaining where they were and had expected him to be panicking. He just looked up when they arrived at the duelling room and asked if they would mind demonstrating a duel in front of the class.

Hermione choked on the glass of water she'd just poured even as Grindelwald agreed. She was nowhere near an equal match to duel Gellert. She opened her mouth to say so but he was already telling Harry that he'd meant to duel her at some point. She just gaped at him, he usually hated the idolism he'd somehow earned from the students during his divination lecture. The walk must have put him in a very good mood.

She joined him in the centre of the floor.

'You can't be serious. I'm nowhere near ready to duel you again.' She hissed as the first student wandered in.

'Don't worry, I'll go easy. It's time for us to try again. Imagine this time that you could break my shield, duel as if I am your equal. We will fight like real wizards today.' He clapped her on the shoulder with a manic grin and twirled his wand.

Dumbledore's Army were assembled far too soon, murmuring excitedly when they saw who was here. She wondered, as she listened to their conversations, how she had become a powerful stranger to them. They spoke of her in the same manner as Kingsley, with some measure of awe.

Once Harry had introduced them, Grindelwald stepped forwards and explained that they were about to duel. Then he summoned a basin from the edge of the room, using a silver knife to prick his finger. A drop of his blood fell into the silvery potion inside. He gestured for Hermione to do the same, and as she did, he explained to the assembled students that this was a temporary ward tuned to specifically their magic. For as long as it lasted, nothing either of them cast could do lasting harm to one another. He then poured the potion into a shallow trench. It ran around the edges of the floor and he explained that this would stop any of their magic escaping to harm a spectator. He warned them that the only place for unprotected duelling was the battlefield.

They strode to separate ends of the room as the student body watched in excited silence. Harry counted down from three and both Gellert and Hermione cast before he'd even closed his mouth on one. The two spells collided with a colossal boom and exploded like fireworks across the room. Hermione transfigured the sparks into hail stones and send them back at him. He summoned a giant Chinese dragon to swallow the balls of ice which disintegrated into ash as it reached Hermione, she turned the ash into a sandstorm, which he formed into a massive sand-horse which charged her. She used a strong gust of wind to dissipate it, then summoned a massive tidal wave. Grindelwald turned the greater part into scalding steam, which she turned into a thick fog so that she could take a breather.

She quickly erected a shield and cast a _Homenum Revelio_ , which illuminated the mass of students on one side of the room, Harry on the other, and Grindelwald crouching slightly to the left of where he had been. She cast a little charm to make the stone beneath his feet slippery, then had to stop to fend off a pack of ice wolves that appeared out of nowhere. She ended up having to conjure fire to scare them away, which unfortunately burned off the mist.

Her fire suddenly stopped obeying her and Grindelwald turned it into a whip, chasing the wolves back towards her. Desperately she formed a wall of earth, but realised too late that that had been a mistake. Suddenly conjuring something that massive drained her of too much magic, so she was helpless to do anything as Grindelwald blew her wall to pieces and disarmed her.

There was a stunned silence before Dumbledore's Army burst into thunderous applause.


	19. Chapter 19

**I've uploaded a fic where I'll add the little scenes that I write that don't fit in this fic. The first one is up now.**

Hermione woke up on the big day feeling optimistic. A quick glance over at Harry at the breakfast table showed she was certainly alone on that count. He was almost green with nerves and he just fiddled with his toast, despite the full spread of bacon and sausages laid out in front of them.

When Gellert appeared from his preparations, Harry quickly excused himself and dashed to the bathroom. The dark wizard piled his plate high with food and tucked in, casting concerned glances after Harry.

'Is he sick?' He asked, when Harry failed to re-emerge from the bathroom after several minutes. 'We should delay the ritual.'

'No, he's just nervous. He was like this before his first quiddich game.' She answered, although she was just as concerned as he was.

'I have dreamless sleep?' He offered and Hermione nodded. 'It's in my rooms, in the cabinet below the portrait.' He told her and she jumped up.

It was the first time she'd ever been inside his rooms, which was the first doorway in the corridor. The door, usually locked, opened easily and she entered into the most chaotic room she'd ever seen. It wasn't messy by any means; in fact it was almost immaculate but it was crammed full of projects and information. Half finished spells were pasted over the walls, his writing detailing processes and incantations, runic diagrams and magical theories.

One wall was lined with books, all of which looked like they belonged in the deepest, darkest corner of the restricted section. Yet more books were piled under the desks that ran around the other walls and hundreds of delicate brass, glass and bone instruments were crammed across every available surface. There was a pensive in one corner, a cabinet of memories over the top of it. A lot of the vials held two dates, some just one and a description. She realised that these were all visions and had to put considerable effort into resisting the temptation to view the one that currently swirled in the pensieve. It was one of the topics that Grindelwald had covered in his lecture; a seer often got certain messages from a vision that any ungifted user would miss, leaving them chasing the prophesy in circles.

She finally managed to find the portrait behind the door and stopped in shock. Dumbledore smiled back at her from his headmaster's portrait.

'Miss Granger.' He smiled and a part of her sagged in relief that she could finally ask her mentor some burning questions.

'Professor Dumbledore!' She greeted, and his eyes twinkled.

'I believe some form of appreciation is in order?' The old wizard offered, 'I believed my best friend to be beyond saving, but it seems you have managed it.' Hermione looked at him in confusion.

'We were both young men, ambitious and intelligent when we met. Oh his visions and his ideas, they inflamed me. He was already deep in the dark arts by then, and once I saw what he could do with them... We became very close as I finished at Hogwarts and he became darker and more powerful with every time I saw him. If only I had realised then what it would do to him.' The headmaster paused here to gather his emotions.

'One terrible night, my brother Aberforth confronted him. I don't know what drove him to do it but he cast the cruciatus curse on him. I realised then what a terrible mistake I was making and we duelled, my sister died in the crossfire.' Hermione knew most of this from Rita Skeeter's book but she let Dumbledore tell his story anyway.

'I realised then that the cost of the dark arts were too high and resolved to bring about change by educating children; teaching from the beginning that love, acceptance and forgiveness are the most powerful tools. Whilst I focused my energies on the younger generation, Gellert disappeared, I assume to continue his twisted research. Then, in 1920, he suddenly reappeared, decimating several towns. He had followers, and he'd found an obscure artefact that let him share his visions with the masses. He inflamed them as he had inflamed me. I couldn't face him, people begged for me to, but we had sworn a blood oath not to fight one another, until Newt Scamander managed to retrieve it. Even then I hesitated, you see, I never knew which of us had cast the curse that killed my sister and I feared that he would know it had been me.'

'I finally faced him when it became clear that nobody else could stop him, and that he would inflict himself on the world if not stopped. I had hoped to make him see reason, but he was mad with his own dark power. We duelled for several hours and in the end I triumphed, perhaps because I was more rested. I had him then at wand point, I expected him to tell me that I had been the one to kill Ariana, but he said nothing, just looked at me with his twisted eyes and laughed. I was too cowardly to kill him, even to bring him to trial so that they could give him the kiss. I shut him in his own fortress and expected to never see him or this place again.' Dumbledore finished, leaving Hermione more than a little shocked, the Grindelwald that she knew was nothing like the man that Dumbledore described.

'He has changed of course, I believe your influence had a lot to do with him not returning to who he was.' The professor added quickly.

'He's wand sworn to me, he knows that I'd stop him before he could try.' Hermione disagreed.

'A word of caution, Miss. Granger; Gellert has pushed areas of magic that no wizard has touched before him. I imagine such a simple bond wouldn't hold him very long at all if he did not wish it to.' He looked at her solemnly and she realised that the older wizard spoke the truth. Now that she looked, she realised one of the largest areas of research in the room was on bonds between wizards.

Furious that he'd tricked her, she yanked the doors on the cabinet open and rifled aggressively through the potions. Of course he would stay with them until Harry had Voldemort out of the way, then he'd break the bond and Britain would be ripe for the taking. She'd been stupid to believe she could control a wizard that had managed to fool half the world.

She stormed back into the dining room and slammed the potion down on the table. Grindelwald looked up at her with a puzzled expression.

'You're planning to break the wand oath.' She snarled at him. She forced herself not to be taken in by the confusion he plastered across his face.

'I wasn't... why would you think that?' He was a brilliant actor, she noted. She wondered if his slight accent made it easier or harder.

'I saw the research on bonds in your room. When were you going to do it? Let Harry clear up the You-Know-Who mess first?' She tried to keep her voice down, hoping that Harry wouldn't hear her and become even more stressed. She'd gotten them into this mess and she'd have to get them out.

'I... That was before my duel with Albus.' He stuttered, completely caught off guard. 'I was trying to find out if he could break the blood bond.'

'So you can break it?' She demanded, eyes narrowed.

'If I looked into it, I've never even considered it.' He answered completely honestly. She narrowed her eyes at him. 'Every spell can be broken.' He told her, which made sense if one had the knowledge and power. Grindelwald certainly had both.

'How do I know you're not going to try and take over the world again?'

Grindelwald sat back and pondered her.

'When I see the distant future, I only see possibilities. The closer I get to the time of the vision, the more accurate what I see becomes. It's a sense that you have as a seer and its why those who hear or see our visions that don't have the gift often spend years chasing them.' He told her. She'd heard this in his lecture to the Hogwarts students, and he'd told her this before in one of their first real conversations.

'I can show you something that I saw a few weeks ago but you must understand that it's only a possibility.' He stood up stiffly and headed towards his room. Hermione followed him as he went over to the pensieve, he took her hand and touched the swirling liquid. She shut her eyes as the world swirled around her, opening them again when she heard the crackle of the fire. Grindelwald sat in his usual chair, a book open on his lap. They were reading quietly, Hermione turning the pages of the reference book with a rapid rustle of parchment. Suddenly, a second image overlaid over the top of the scene in the room. She tried to brush it away but the real Grindelwald whispered in her ear to focus on the new image.

She did and suddenly she was looking at an excited little girl. She had Harry's green eyes but was otherwise a spitting image of Ginny and she ran up to a witch that stood on the balcony, doors thrown open wide behind her. The older witch wore fashionable blue robes, her hair in an elegant twist on her head. She turned around as the younger version of Ginny approached and with a start Hermione recognised herself. She looked older, maybe late thirties, and far more sophisticated than she'd ever imagined herself.

'What is it Lily?' The older her asked, bending down to the young girl's level.

'A letter from Albus, Auntie Hermione, he says he'd arrived at school safely.' The girl answered, thrusting a letter towards her aunt. The older Hermione's face spread into a stunning smile as she took the letter and read it.

'Shall we go and tell Uncle Gellert before your parents arrive to pick you up?' The witch asked, taking the little girl's hand and leading her back inside.

The scene faded back to the living room where Grindelwald was staring into the fire, then the world swirled around them and they were back in his bedroom.

'Was that the future? Ginny and Harry's child?' She asked in awe, wondering what else he'd seen about their futures and not told them.

'It is still a _possible_ future. Still a long way away, as you could see. If one of us made a decision that would destroy that possibility – for example if I were to take over Europe, and by extension kill you and Harry because you'd fight me every step of the way, the vision would change. He held up a vial that looked like a black memory, and she realised it was the same effect that happened to the unsolved prophesies in the department of mysteries.

He lifted the vision from the pensieve, and siphoned it into a miniscule glass vial on a gold chain. She was surprised when he draped the chain over her neck, letting the silver vial fall onto her chest.

'You'll know to come and find me if this changes, I won't even have time to draw out the ritual before you're here to find out whether I'm planning to kill you or whether it's just Ginny and Harry having an argument.'


	20. Chapter 20

**Another chapter added in the extras fic. Please enjoy this one.**

Harry never came back to breakfast but Hermione was able to slip his dreamless sleep potion into a cup of tea which she delivered to his room. She fingered the glass vial that hung around her neck; it felt odd wearing something of his, almost intimate. She scrubbed that thought from her mind. It was just a way of monitoring him to make sure he didn't break the wand oath.

Unbidden, the image of her turning around to face the little girl entered her mind. There had been a ring on her finger, just as elegant and sophisticated as the rest of her. She forced that thought out of her mind, this was the danger with prophesies for non-seers. She shoved the memory of the vision behind an occlumency barrier and knocked on Harry's door.

She received no answer, so she pushed it open and found him slumped over the chair in front of the window. She smiled, levitating him out and down the hallway. Gellert met her at the doorway and they shut him in a closet which they could levitate downstairs without causing a fuss. Hermione caught the doors as they made their way down in awkward silence.

'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have listened to Professor Dumbledore.' She apologised.

'Just don't call Albus "professor" again. It makes me feel old.' He mumbled, which Hermione took to mean apology accepted.

'Is that his portrait from Hogwarts?' She asked curiously. He nodded.

They shuffled awkwardly around a corner, both having to focus to get around without jolting Harry too badly. The steep stairs in the prison block proved another challenge but once they had the hang of it, it became pretty easy. The inhabitants of Nurmengard were very used to furniture being shifted around by now as people settled in and so nobody found anything unusual and even chipped in to help with the most awkward bits.

They arrived in the experiment room that had been set aside with little trouble and worked together to get Harry situated in the right spot. Hermione pulled out the plastic fairy figurine that had come with the lion and handed it to Grindelwald. The gold glitter on her skirt hadn't survived the night in the potion and it came away over Hermione's hand. She grinned and wiped it across Gellert's face in a lightning fast movement.

He sent her a dangerous glare that would have sent anyone who knew him less running and a cool breeze brushed over her face. She realised too late that he was holding his wand and threw her hands up to her face. They came away covered in a thick film of glitter, she would have retaliated but Harry didn't have long left of his sleep.

What followed was the longest hour of her life as she waited outside the patronus ward for Grindelwald to finish the ritual. It seemed to take twice as long as when Nagini had been the subject and taking the glitter off her face only took half the wait.

She fiddled with the glass vial around her neck, watching as the silver liquid swirled around, she wondered if it was technically a gas or a liquid. It seemed to change state depending on whether it was in an open container or not. It suddenly occurred to her that in the time Gellert had been born, giving jewellery might have an entirely different meaning.

It didn't in the modern day... the thought was completely blown from her mind as Harry suddenly flew out of the door and wrapped her in a tight hug. They laughed together in relief for several minutes and if a couple of tears escaped, Hermione was sure neither of them would care. On an unspoken agreement they snagged Grindelwald into the hug as he tried to sneak past. The dark wizard stood like a board as he was embraced.

The little fairy doll that now held Voldemort's soul sat innocently on the floor as they pulled apart and Hermione turned to face it.

'I think you've earned the honours, Gellert.' She said softly.

'That, and of the three of us, I'm the only one who can cast the curse.' He laughed. A single tongue of fire shot from his wand, forming into a manticore which savaged the fairy. She melted into a black puddle with little resistance, the cursed fire continued to burn in a neat circle, vaporising the only fuel Grindelwald allowed it to touch. Hermione marvelled again at how different a spell it was when Grindelwald cast it as to Crabbe, coldly and irrefutably destructive and the knowledge that it was completely under the control of its caster was somewhat more frightening that the wildfire Crabbe had caused.

He let the curse burn out when there was nothing left of the black puddle and Hermione used a quick cleaning charm to get rid of the scorch marks on the stone.

McGonagall stopped them on their way to the living quarters and asked Grindelwald to come with her to help some students with objects that she didn't recognise. It had turned out during the cleaning that he was quite a hoarder with store rooms filled to the ceiling with gifts, spoils and dark magic. There were hundreds of books and Madam Pince had been overjoyed to be given the task of sorting the books into three separate libraries – one for interesting books (or illegal as everyone other than Grindelwald called them), he'd compromised by using a complex locking system on the door so that students had no chance of ever entering. One for non-fiction that was suitable for student reference and another for fiction.

The students had finally finished clearing the junk and unenchanted furniture out of storage and were now facing the daunting challenge of figuring what else was safe and what needed to be locked away next to Grindelwald's "interesting library".

Harry and Hermione continued on upwards alone, usually Harry stopped off at the Weasley's to spend the evening with Ginny so she was surprised when he continued into the living quarters with her and joined her on the couches in front of the large windows.

'We need to do something to thank him.' Harry said as soon as they were seated.

'I already intend to ensure that he is considerably more comfortable than before.' Hermione told him, 'He has also offered accommodation to anyone who wishes to remain in the castle after the war, an offer that I am fully intending to take him up on. I for one will be visiting him regularly.'

'No, Hermione.' He insisted, 'I mean that we should push for his freedom.'

'There's no way! The Wizengamot might do it but he'd still be wanted for major crimes in the rest of the world.' She'd read enough for her essays during history of magic that he had a longer list of crimes than Dumbledore had good deeds.

'Actually, I was thinking we could go straight to the ICW. I did some research on international wizarding law, trying to figure out if we'd get in trouble for living here.' He explained, lifting a thick book from one of the sidetables. Her jaw fell open as he adjusted his glasses and flicked through the pages, pulling a scrap of parchment with notes and numbers towards him.

'Are we doing something wrong?' She asked, amazed as the usually sport-obsessed boy browsed a book even she would consider heavy reading.

'Well no, Gellert knew what he was doing at least. According to muggle law, the whole valley officially falls under the Grünerbaum estate, the official owner of which is Grindelwald. As his assets were never actually seized, he does still legally own Nurmengard.' Hermione just stared at him slack jawed, she knew he was intelligent but she had no idea he was this driven. 'This is where he was really intelligent though – Nurmengard is not actually in Austria, its 200m into Lichtenstein, the only country to not fall under international wizarding law due to a dispute on trolls during the 1600's.' He finished, opening another book and casting a little charm that Hermione had never even heard of to translate a passage into English.

'Harry, this is incredible.' She said pulling Harry's copious research towards her. She'd assumed he'd been spending every spare minute with Ginny but she realised now that he'd been doing his own research without telling either of them.

'Now, Grindelwald has never actually committed a crime in Lichtenstein, whose magical population went extinct in 1780. In fact, most laws still in effect revolve around theft of land and not disturbing the trolls – it's actually specified that killing a foreign national is permissible. So technically, Gellert is free so long as he remains in Lichtenstein.' Harry said as he adjusted his glasses on his nose. Hermione considered that he really wouldn't have looked that out of place in court at that moment if he'd been wearing a suit.

'But you want to push for more than that?' Hermione guessed and Harry nodded, pushing the thick book that he was referencing towards her. He'd magically highlighted a passage, which Hermione read through quickly.

'So you want the Ministry of Magic to submit an appeal for a pardon?' Hermione concluded after reading it and Harry nodded emphatically.

'Yes, see here, "A government may submit an appeal for an international pardon if they believe that a convicted witch or wizard in their custody has provided a great service to the betterment of the wizarding population on an international level."'

'So we need evidence that You-Know-Who intended to make international movements.' Hermione concluded and Harry nodded.

'There must be something somewhere in the ministry.' He said hopefully. 'Or we could get one of the death eaters to confess.'

'Sure, but we mustn't let Gellert know we're looking into this. Just in case it doesn't come to anything. Let's put all this stuff in your room, he doesn't feel as comfortable around you so you'll probably get more warning if he decides to come in.' She decided, using slips of parchment to bookmark the pages Harry had open and neatly piling them up.

'Hermione, he's a gentleman from the beginning of the 20th century. He gets uncomfortable when you show your ankles, he'd never come into a girl's room without express invitation and he'd certainly never go into your bathroom.' Harry laughed, carrying their research materials into her bathroom and storing them in the cabinet under the sink.


	21. Chapter 21

Hermione and Gellert were in the dining room enjoying breakfast when Harry started yelling and screaming. With war-honed senses, the two of them were rushing into his bedroom with wands drawn before he'd even finished his first round of cursing.

The clear noises of a struggle came from the bathroom and Hermione was only fractionally behind Gellert as he burst into what could only be described as a comical scene. Harry was thrashing in his bathtub, the broken taps spurting water across the room. Tangled around his very naked body was a massive snake which struggled to extricate herself from the polished wet bath. Unsure what to do, Hermione pointed her wand into the tangle, temporarily petrifying both of them. She quickly averted her eyes as Grindelwald rescued Nagini from the mix and levitated the snake into the living room whilst Gellert revived Harry.

She revived the Maledictus and Nagini started urgently hissing at her. She held out her hands speaking up over the snake.

'Nagini, calm down, I can't understand you, you'll just have to wait until Harry gets here.' She tried, Nagini paused, then started hissing again. Gellert joined them mid way through whatever Nagini was trying to say and pointed his wand at her.

'Nagini is essentially human with fully human brain functions in the body of a snake, similar to an animagus. _Legilimens_ ' He cast and both man and snake froze.

When he lifted the spell, Nagini seemed considerably more relaxed and she curled up in the warm patch of sunlight that shone through the windows as the dark wizard explained what she'd discovered.

Voldemort had taken refuge in one of the Malfoy bolt holes, he'd reinforced the heavy warding already there with his own, allowing only his most trusted to know of his location. The entire Malfoy family was imprisoned to stop the Order using the same tactic to get in again. Harry joined them as Grindelwald described what Nagini had shared, painting a dire picture.

'So how can we get in?' Hermione asked disparingly.

'The traditional way.' Grindelwald answered, 'Brute force. We need to brew offensive potions, get as many wands together as possible. The more those wards have to block, the faster they'll give way. If we can get anti-apparaition wards up before they realise we're there, they'll be sitting ducks.'

'We need to go before he realises Nagini is missing.' Harry pointed out.

'You're right. Send a patronus, get the order together.' He ordered, 'Harry, send a second patronus to the potions master, we'll need every offensive potion he can find.' Hermione had sent off her first patronus, and Gellert turned back to her. 'We'll need those protean charmed coins of yours, see if you can get three of them.'

Hermione could tell that he was very familiar with this process so she simply followed his orders, sending sending a brief explanation to Slughorn and then sending another patronus asking Ginny, Neville and Luna to bring their coins. Within minutes, the auditorium outside was beginning to fill up and the excited murmuring was becoming a load roar. Grindelwald shut the intelligence file that he had open at the Malfoy bolt hole with a sigh.

'McGonagall says that everyone is here.' Harry said as a silver cat delivered its message. He shared a look with Hermione and together the three of them walked down the corridor and into the packed auditorium. A sudden hush fell over the crowd as Gellert pushed Harry forwards to take the stage.

'Er... Hi everyone. Hope you've all been well. So the reason we're all here is because this time, we're going to strike at You-Know-Who first. We received intelligence this morning with his location and yesterday we defeated the final safeguard on his life; for the first time he is fully human, we can finally kill him and end this and we will take this opportunity.' He paused and stepped backwards. Grindelwald stepped forwards in his place.

'You-Know-Who has taken refuge in one of the Malfoy bolt holes, it is heavily warded and he lets only his closest followers in to see him. The is no way to bring down the wards, so we will have to use brute force to break them. It will not be easy but it is very possible, I have done it before and You-Know-Who did it to Hogwarts. We need to exert as much force as possible in the shortest time possible; Professor Slughorn has amassed every offensive potion in our reserves. He will take the east corner with the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, we expect very little retaliation from that quarter but we are operating on an old set of blue prints so keep your wits about you.'

'The Gryffindors will take the south west corner with Kingsley. Send every spell you can think of at the shield, just remember that you'll still have a battle to fight afterwards – don't exhaust yourself. Be prepared for your spells to be reflected. The rest of the order and myself will take the front entrance. The most important thing to remember is that we have him cornered, he will try to escape. The first person to see him, send a patronus to Harry or Hermione. Professor McGonagall, you will be in charge of the anti apparition jinx as soon as we arrive, if you need students to help you, pick whomever you need. There are port keys under your seats, please try to keep these with you and if you get wounded, use them to return to the castle.' There were no questions, the plan was simple and straight forwards.

'Please say your goodbyes and return here in half an hour ready for battle.'


	22. Chapter 22

Half an hour passed far too quickly and an expectant hush fell across the room as Grindelwald stepped back up to the platform. He counted down from five, then tapped his port key with his wand. Hermione felt a sharp tugging at her navel and the world compressed around her, spitting her out again in an empty field. She felt the hum in the air as McGonagall and her two student volunteers raised the anti apparition jinx over the whole field. Grindelwald stood out at the front of their force, they could see Slughorn across the field from them at the head of his group of students but Kingsley wasn't visible, indicating that the warded house was somewhere between them.

For a couple of seconds there was silence, then Slughorn's students let out a colossal roar, launching a volley of potions into the air. The glass vials shattered against the wards; fire, ice, acid and a smoking violet concoction splattered like paint across the invisible dome. From the south west came several bangs and pops and the echo of young voices shouting different spells. Then their group in the north launched their first attack, powerful spells blasting across the mirage, lighting the dome up white and showing the exact outline of the protective shield.

For a second there was silence, then another volley soared across the space between them. Slughorn's students were screaming battlecries as the lobbed potion after potion at the ward, painting their side in an array of bright colours. Hermione cast stunner after stunner, on her left Harry was doing the same and on her right, purple curses flew from Grindelwald's wand. Flitwick was using something yellow, George was setting up a volley of fireworks and Molly Weasley was screaming something about Fred's head. Whatever curse "Fred's head" was seemed to be doing considerable damage, almost as much as Grindelwald's purple curse, which lit the entire shield up white every time it impacted.

Then, booming over the sound of the spells, slithering deep into the darkest parts of her soul and leaving Hermione feeling sullied, Voldemort's voice whispered over the battlefield.

'You are fools, you believed that we were unarmed. Now you will face the consequences of your actions.' The barrier suddenly became transparent, the mirage of the field wavering and disappearing. Horrified screams rent the air, for between them and the cottage, pressed up against the barriers, waited an army of inferi. The horrifying bit was that they were of all ages – children dressed in tattered Hogwarts robes, parents and grandparents. Voldemort had raised the dead from the battle of Hogwarts and sent them out to fight against their living friends and families.

The corpse that led them though was unmistakable despite having been dead for over a year; his long white hair and beard, his robes still pristine as they had been when he was buried. Albus Dumbledore faced them across the space.

In the field of shock and horrified despair, a supernova exploded next to her. Grindelwald unleashed a storm of darkness which swept across the field almost tangible and crackling with power. Then suddenly it sucked in before he screamed an incantation that was lost to the roar of white lightning that shot from his wand.

The bolt hit the shield with a clap of thunder and the warding split open as if it were an egg. Gellert sliced his wand horizontally across the field, blue fire streaming from his wand and blazing into animal forms. It seared a ring around the house, hugging its master as he strode through the fire. The army of inferi rambled forwards, unaware or uncaring as their comrades were vaporised by the blue fire. Grindelwald advanced forwards; dragons, basilisks, thestrals and chimeras plunged around him, wings and tails whipping his foes into dust.

Voldemort's undead army was decimated within minutes before the fiendfyre converged on the body of the headmaster with the force of the bomb.

Death eaters appeared around the edges of the field in swirls of black smoke, engaging order members in duels. With no cover the battlefield descended in chaos within seconds, crossfire taking out as many combatants as direct duelling. Harry and Hermione cast shield charms as they hurried across charred grass after Grindelwald. There was a massive explosion as he blew the front face off the cottage, dark magic still swirling around him with unimaginable power. The stone shards froze mid explosion, changing direction and knifing towards Grindelwald. He blew them to dust and sent another reductor curse into the front room of the cottage. A woman screamed from inside but Voldemort finally became visible. The two dark wizard's wands were a blur as they cast spells quicker than Hermione could see, jets of light shot into the crowd of combatants around the cottage, agonised screams proving that none of them were minor jinxes.

'We have to get a shield up around them!' Hermione screamed at Harry over the noise of the battle. The boy-who-lived jerked his head in a sharp nod. 'Cover me!' She shouted, beginning to erect a dome over the two duelling wizards. Harry deflected the scattered curses that came close to touching her as Hermione struggled to hold her shield. Every spell that hit it felt like a physical blow, reverberating into her bones.

Then suddenly it stopped.

An inhuman, tortured scream rent the air and Hermione spun to see Grindelwald, elder wand levelled at the younger dark wizard. Voldemort was on his knees, head tipped skyward and mouth opened to make that awful sound. A woman screamed, barrelling out of the building and throwing herself into the path of Grindelwald's curse.

As soon as she came between the two, the spell was broken. Grindelwald tossed her aside with a casual flick of the elder wand.

'You've got to end it Harry.' Hermione said urgently. Harry nodded and sprinted towards the two dark wizards. Bellatrix stood from where she'd been tossed and noticed Harry careening towards her. The dark witch raised her wand at the boy who lived but Gellert's training paid off and Hermione's tickling jinx sent her aim wide. Bellatrix turned to her with fury, slashing her wand diagonally. Hermione deflected the curse, then returned with a slicing hex, Bellatrix deflected it with a contemptuous flick of her wand.

'Is that all you've got, little girly? The Dark Lord himself has trained me!' she taunted, Hermione deflected a cruciatus and a sectumsempra with equally contemptuous ease.

'No.' Hermione gritted out. 'Gellert Grindelwald trained me.'

She let one of Bellatrix's curses splash against her shield, taking the opportunity to turn the ground beneath the other witch to slick black glass. Bellatrix slipped as she cast her next curse, which gave Hermione the chance to go on the offensive. She unleashed a barrage of hexes and jinxes, watching as Bellatrix's expression changed from amusement to concern and eventually shift to fear. The younger witch transfigured the ash into sand, whipped up a storm and battered the older witch. She sent several stunners towards the sandstorm, hoping they would be concealed by the dust. Bellatrix used a wave of power to blow the dust away, then dodged the stunners at the last minute. Hermione's fire spell singed the witch's wild hair, then little birds backed the witch straight into Hermione's final stunner. Breathing heavily, Hermione stood over her defeated opponent, thick ropes twirling out of her wand and binding her foe.

She looked up to see that the rest of the battlefield was in silence, watching as Grindelwald spoke to his defeated foe, his wand not wavering an inch.

'What's wrong.' She asked as soon as she got close.

'Something is wrong with him, Hermione.' Harry muttered to her. She looked closely at their dark friend. Harry was right, she realised. It was something in his posture, in the way his magic roared without any mercy or hesitation, maybe something in the set of his wand or the look in his eyes. Either way, Hermione realised that she was face to face with the Grindelwald that Dumbledore had described rather than the one she'd become friends with.

Tentatively she reached through her occulumency barriers to where their bond pulsed. She reached out for his magic, preparing herself to tear it away if he tried to attack her. Then she crept up to him.

He ignored her as she approached, which she took to be a good sign.

'Gellert?' She whispered. 'It's time to end this. This isn't right.'

'He dared to insult Albus' memory.' Grindelwald snarled, recasting his curse. Voldemort cried out soundlessly, his voice worn beyond use.

'Albus believed in mercy. Please, Gellert, lets finish this so that we can go home.' She begged. Grindelwald paused, his curse fading to leave the defeated dark lord whimpering.

'Would he not want me to avenge him?' He asked, sounding strangely unsure. Hermioen rested her hand on his arm.

'Not at the cost of yourself.' She whispered and Gellert took a shuddering step backwards, lowering his wand shakily.

Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded, leading Grindelwald backwards. She heard his soft spoken Avada behind her, knowing that it was an act of mercy and her friend's soul would remain undamaged.

She wrapped her hand around her port key and spoke the words that would take them home.


	23. Chapter 23

**This is part two. I have completed my exploration into how Grindelwald would have affected (and made more probable) the fall of Voldemort and have decided to continue it into a Hermione/Gellert exploration. If you wish to stop reading now, feel free. I might even add a non Hermione/Gellert ending to the oneshots book. If you wish to continue on this journey with me, thank you. Let's see where this goes.**

 **As before, all unedited.**

They arrived in the living quarters, and she led him into his room. He sat back on the bed without protest and stared off blankly into space. He roused slightly when Dumbledore asked what was wrong, enough to conjure a blanket over the portrait. Then he was back to staring dejectedly into space.

'You should put me back in the cell now.' He told Hermione. She took a seat next to him and took his hand. It was icy cold.

'I think you can be on house arrest for now.' She compromised, but the dark wizard shook his head violently.

'I thought I could do it. I thought I could honour Albus' cause but I corrupted it. You shouldn't let me corrupt you too.' Gellert fiddled with the two wands in his hands, his fingers running familiarly over the strange bumps of the Elder Wand, then less familiarly over the smooth wood of his newer wand.

'I don't understand what happened but you were angry. Everyone does stuff they regret when pushed far enough.' Hermione tried and Gellert let out a hollow laugh.

'It's difficult to explain. It's like every dark spell puts you deeper into darkness, but this time there's always been a piece of string to follow to find the way out. It's like I went so deep that I lost the string. I know too much to be allowed... I can't lose the string again.' She wondered if he knew how mad he sounded.

'I won't let you lose the string.' She told him sincerely.

'No,' He smiled slightly. 'You can take my magic away.'

'Professor Dumbledore says that you've changed since he last saw you.' She told him, Gellert smiled weakly again. 'Is that because you found the string?'

'No, there was no string that time. I was deep in the darkness, it took about five years to realise I had right and wrong twisted. This time there's always been string to come back.' He explained.

'Maybe its love, Professor Dumbledore always says love is powerful.'

'I don't know; I have never believed myself to be capable of love.' The dark wizard admitted and Hermione scoffed.

'Of course you are, Harry and I are your friends, right? That's love.'

'Last time I was friends with someone I tortured their brother and murdered their sister.' He argued and Hermione laughed again.

'Well, good thing neither Harry nor I have any siblings or parents then.' Hermione looked at him closely, he seemed more disappointed in himself than upset. Maybe she should have considered the implications of him being more devastated at the thought of upsetting a portrait than the fact that he'd just tortured someone.

'Come on, let's go back and help with the cleanup.' She ordered, pulling the dark wizard to his feet. He sighed and tucked both wands away as they both used their port keys to return to the scene of the battle.

It was still carnage. It seemed the order had managed to deal with the remaining death eaters who now lay stunned and magically bound in rows on one side of the field. Gellert caught a third year student as they wandered past and gave him specific directions to magical restraining handcuffs that were stored in his castle. The student nodded energetically and popped off to retrieve the items.

The pair then continued across the field towards where it seemed an emergency field hospital had been established. It was fuller than it had ever been, even in Hogwarts. The lack of cover had taken its toll on the students and almost everyone had sustained at least one hit – equally as many were hexes and jinxes from allies as from enemies.

Madam Pomfrey and Andromeda were rushed off their feet tending to the seriously injured, so Hermione easily cast the counter curses for those just under minor jinxes. Gellert joined her, freeing up several more people to join the workforce. She then stood back again to assess; it seemed as though the patients had been divided into minor injuries that were tended to by the youngest of the students that hadn't been allowed to participate. It was heartbreaking to see eleven and twelve year olds so capable with healing that they could fix a broken bone with a twitch of their wrist.

Those that had been designated as time sensitive were being tended to by Madam Pomfrey and Andromeda with the assistance of Slughorn. The potions master must have sent people to fetch healing potions because he was followed by a train of students carrying sleeping draughts and blood replenishing potions.

Kingsley and the adults took the more gruesome task of sorting through bodies, separating living from dead, death eater from order.

Gellert stuck to her as she hurried through the rows of injured and dead, checking for anyone she knew. There was nobody close to her, although several that she recognised from the halls of Hogwarts. They stopped occasionally to perform a counter curse, she didn't know the method behind which ones he chose – some were as simple as _finate incantatem_ and others complex, involving several different stages.

Once they had searched all the rows, Gellert led her over to Kingsley. The recovery effort had moved to the opposite side of the decimated cottage and they took a shortcut through the garden, which served them well because they were hidden from view when the ICW appeared.

Roughly twenty wizards appeared in the middle of the field. Quickly confronting Kingsley, they could hear the demands for surrender and indignant shouts from the order members.

'What's going on?' Hermione hissed as they peered around the hedge.

'We haven't got time for this.' Gellert growled. 'We need to put a new person at the head of government by tomorrow. As soon as you can, summon the wizengamot, Kingsley will know how. You need a temporary minister for magic. First order is to change the laws – legalise what you've just done, revoke any laws that ban your supporters, reinstate any that incriminate your enemies. Get your enemies locked away before anyone can mount resistance.'

'What about you?' She asked urgently, knowing before he answered what he would do and that she couldn't stop him.

'I'm going to get the ICW of your back.' His eyes flickered momentarily and he pulled the elder wand out of his sleeve and handed it to her. 'Keep this safe for me please.'

She reached for him helplessly as he left watching as he strode confidently across the charred grass towards the ICW. They turned almost as one and the dark wizard spread his arms wide tossing his ebony wand aside. He was forced to his knees and his hands bound behind his back, a witch summoned his wand and a nervous looking wizard crept up behind him and clipped a pair of silver handcuffs around his wrists.

They spoke for several minutes, Kingsley and Mr. Weasley fighting in his defence before the ICW wizards finally disapparated with their prisoner. Hermione hurried forwards as all but two of the representatives followed suit.

'What's happening?' She asked Kingsley urgently. He turned to look at her with a troubled expression.

'They arrived at Nurmengard to help us with the situation and the only inhabitant was a boy in a cell, apparently the information he gave them was that Grindelwald had imperiused you and was using the order to take over wizarding Britain. We have a week to prove that Voldemort's government was not a legitimate government, otherwise the ICW will arrest everyone here.' Hermione gasped in outrage.

'Ronald!' She seethed. 'I'll kill him! What about Gellert?'

'Grindelwald is under arrest, they won't return him to custody in Nurmengard.'

'He left me with instructions.' Hermione said sadly, reaching out to touch her bond with Gellert. His presence was muted with the effect of the manacles so she couldn't feel where he was or what he was up to.

Kingsley nodded as she relayed his instructions, then he side-along apparated her to an unfamiliar town. It was picturesque, looking out over one of the many white cliffs that edged the south east coast of England. The auror led her down one of the wide, empty streets and up to a neat house that just missed the sea view.

He knocked on the door and they heard shuffling inside, then the door was flung open and they were staring down the wand of a slightly familiar witch. She was tall with a sharp, angular chin and strong nose, her eyes were narrowed in obvious supision.

Without wasting a second, the woman began quizzing Kingsley on the events of a fourth year Hogsmede trip. When he managed to answer every question perfectly, her expression warmed considerably.

'Madam Bones, please meet Hermione Granger.' He introduced and Hermione shook the woman's hand as they were welcomed into her home. Everything was light wood and white walls, which came as a shock after the dark greys and reds of Nurmengard. Pale yellow orchids decorated a table in the hall and a soft white carpet padded the golden floorboards.

They sat down at the table as Madam Bones made tea, claiming that she couldn't take any more bad news without it. In fact, she managed remarkably well, scoffing at the mention of the ICW and nodding her head as Hermione described the steps that Grindelwald had recommended they take to secure the country. As they were talking, the older witch summoned a parchment and pen and wrote out a quick note, passing it to a handsome barn out that met her at the door to her garden.

'I have called an emergency session of the wizengamot, we will have a temporary minister for magic by nightfall. Once the wizengamot is assembled, it will not be difficult to establish how many have been under the imperius curse. I believe that is sufficient evidence that the government has been perverted. With it now obvious that blood-supremacy will not be the way forwards, most of the wizengamot will vote in favour of revoking the ban on muggleborns. It would be political suicide to do otherwise. The captured death eaters can legally only be held for 24 hours without trial with the current status quo, although it will be trivial to change as there are far too many for the wizengamot to deal with in 24 hours.' She sat back at the table and took a drink from her tea.

'Don't worry Miss. Granger, everything will soon go back to how it was.' Kingsley comforted, laying a hand on her back. They misinterpreted her sob as a relieved one.


	24. Chapter 24

As she had guessed, almost the entire order returned to Nurmengard that evening once she informed them that the wards were keyed to her. The first thing she did was to assemble everyone in the auditorium. It was a sombre assembly as people realised that more than half their number were still in St. Mungos.

She explained the situation to them; that they were under suspicion of illegally overthrowing the government . Several people burst into tears or started shouting obscenities. The youngest Weasleys in particular leading the baying for blood. Hermione raised her hands, calling desperately for silence. She was amazed when she was immediately obeyed and an expectant hush fell across the room.

They remained silent as she explained that the wizengamot had assembled to prove their innocence and that in the meantime they should remain in Nurmengard castle because it was immune to international law. Murmurs of interest swept across the room but were immediately silenced as she once again raised her hands. It was a surreal experience, receiving that level of respect from those that were her peers or older.

She finished by extending Grindelwald's offer for people to remain in the castle indefinately after everything was over. This provoked another wave of interested murmurs as she asked them to discuss it with their families and inform her when they came to a decision. She dismissed them to a roar of discussion, unsurprised when Luna and Neville approached her immediately to ask to stay. Both were orphans now; Neville's grandmother had died in the battle of Hogwarts and Luna explained that her father had died in the final battle.

She agreed immediately and offered to assign them rooms as soon as she knew which would be free. She then retreated to her own rooms to where Harry was pouring over his law books in front of the big windows.

'They saw you duel Bellatrix.' Harry said before she could even ask as she threw herself into the chair opposite him.

'It's surreal.' She commented and Harry barked out a laugh.

'I'm just glad to pass the baton, besides you really chucked me in the deep end with the DA in fifth year.' His eyes twinkled as he spoke and he put his quill aside to laugh as she huffed indignantly.

They both jumped when a large snowy owl knocked on the window and Hermione had to scramble to reach the balcony door. It took several minutes of cajoling to get the bird down from the obvious window to the balcony, then several more to find a suitable treat. She assumed any that Grindelwald may have owned had gone off long ago.

Eventually, the disgruntled owl allowed them to untie the letter and took off, batting them in the face with its wings. They hurried back inside to open the official looking letter, which had been sealed with the stamp of the wizengamot in purple wax.

Harry broke the seal nervously, reading the letter before breaking out into a grin and handing it to Hermione.

It was an official notification that the laws making non-magic heritage illegal had been revoked and announcing the Kingsley had been appointed temporary Minister for Magic after the current cabinet had been found to be under the imperius curse. It also announced that Voldemort was dead and that supporting him was henceforth considered to be illegal. They hugged, then Harry ran out to the living quarters, using a sonorous charm to read out the letter to everyone in the castle.

Cheers rang through the levels and people flocked out into the corridor and suddenly people were pulling out firewhiskey and butter beer, a round of George's indoor fireworks exploded through the corridors and everyone was hugging everyone else. For the first time it finally felt like a victory as they celebrated, George kept sending off fiery phoenixes and everyone erupted into cheers every time one soared overhead.

The elves seemed to notice that there was a celebration happening because suddenly there were strains of music echoing up from downstairs. A curious group of students that went to explore came rushing back hollering that the ball room was open. The mob flowed without pause into the giant room downstairs, helping themselves to tables laden with food and drinks.

Hermione waved her wand from the doorway, and gold light shimmered across the room. The heavy drapes shimmered to crimson, gold chased the black out of the table runners and a phoenix blazed up the overmantel from the fireplace. A thunderous cheer and applause met her magic, followed by another round of fireworks as everyone chanted hers and Harry's name. Harry grinned from the sidelines as she tried her hardest to blend into the wall.

For several hours, people congratulated her and burst into thunderous cheers and applause at seemingly random intervals. When Kingsley arrived, Hermione was only too happy to lead the hurrahs for the new minister, shoving the attention from her own shoulders and onto his.

She was glad to sink into the background as people made the rounds congratulating their newest celebrity, pretending not to notice as he glared at her across the room. Around two in the morning the party finally started to die down, George was mumbling something about Fred as he staggered in the direction of his twin's room. Hagrid started bawling about Fluffy and had to be shepherded away by a giggly McGonagall and a hiccupping Flitwick.

Hermione levitated the only remaining Creevey to his bed and left him asleep on the couch in the care of his less sneaky (and therefore less inebriated) year mates. Kingsley caught her on the way up to her own rooms and they took a seat in the living area of his rooms.

He was one of the few that had remained as sober as she had through the celebrations, so it was clearly business as he poured them both a warm drink and sat down opposite her.

'May I be quite plain, Miss Granger?' He asked, without any of the usual pleasantries. His tone made her slightly nervous but she nodded anyway, there was no advantage to delaying the news that he needed to tell her.

'You are well respected, dare I say it your peers are in awe of you.' She nodded, already aware of this fact. 'Those of your year group are widely considered heroes but yourself and Mr. Potter are widely considered legends; the saviours of the wizarding Britain.' She winced, knowing that she'd have to endure the same celebrity as Harry for the rest of her life.

'I assure you that I have no plans to remain in the spotlight.' She informed him and Kingsley regarded her for several minutes over his mug.

'I hope you will reconsider Miss Granger, the wizarding world needs heroes right now.' He sounded worryingly like Dumbledore as he spoke and Hermione suddenly feared that she was about to be cornered into something she didn't want to do.

'What are you suggesting?' She demanded and he smiled at her proudly.

'You are the brightest witch of your age and you led the Order of the Phoenix to defeat the darkest wizard Britain has ever seen...' he held up his hand to stall her protest. 'I haven't led the order since you rescued Gellert Grindelwald – a bold move. The world needs bold moves right now.'

'I still don't understand what you are asking.' Hermione insisted and Kingsley sighed.

'I wish to propose you as the deputy minister for magic.' He informed her and she choked on her tea.

'I have no idea about politics! I don't even have newts.' Hermione coughed and Kingsley waved her concerns away.

'That can be arranged, the position will not be confirmed until the wizengamot can officially elect me to office. Meanwhile you have already led an organisation through a war and convinced a dark wizard to fight with you for no reward, deputy minister is really rather simple in comparison. I believe you are exactly the kind of witch that can motivate the change the world needs.' She knew that he could see he was getting to her. She was smart enough to see the effect that she had on the order and if she was a leader of the heroes, it would threaten the already unstable government to separate herself from them. Either her or Harry needed to take the position and Harry certainly wouldn't be willing.

'I'll need to consider.' She demured, lowering her cup to the table as the gravity of the role she'd just been offered settled on her shoulders.

'Thank you. I hope to be working with you soon. I think you might find it a useful position to hold in your endeavour to free Mr. Grindelwald as well – access to the trials, the media. Feel free to contact me with anything you might need.' He smiled at her and she returned the expression uncertainly, not sure if that was entirely ethical.


	25. Chapter 25

The ICW were holding Grindelwald in their head office in Brussels. Once the sheer number of British ministry officials under the imperius curse was documented and sent to the ICW, they were only too happy to do everything they could to brush the unfortunate false accusation under the carpet. Their favours included allowing the War Heroine to visit Grindelwald, although they were less willing to release him to the custody of an 18 year old.

She had sent an owl two days after that fateful battle requesting a visit and on the third day had received her positive reply and a port key.

Nagini had picked out her outfit in what Harry had called girl time. She'd confided in the snake about Kingsley's offer, and the Maledictus had then leaked the information to Harry. In retaliation, Hermione had tried to wear jeans to her visit with Grindelwald. Then when she was in the shower, the snake had soundlessly slithered through the opening in the door and removed the casual clothing.

With no choice, Hermione wore the robes that Nagini had chosen, surprised at how mature she looked in the formal, deep green robes. She swore the snake looked smug, lounging on her bed as Hermione brushed her hair and picked up her wand. The silver of Grindelwald's vision hung conspicuously against the dark fabric and after spending several minutes looking for it, Hermione had to admit that Nagini had hidden her beaded bag too well for it to be found before the port key left.

The entrance must have been high up in some manor or castle because she was afforded a spectacular view of gothic stone architecture on the opposite tower. Heavy purple drapes were pulled back from every window, tied by gold ropes with golden tassels brushing the polished stone floor. A wizard was waiting for her in front of a misty doorway and Hermione strode down the hall with false confidence, the heeled boots that Nagini had picked out clicking on the stone.

He checked her wand, identifying her by age and description, then performed a whole host of detection charms on her. Once it was established that she was free of any disguises or curses, the wizard beckoned and stepped through the arch. She followed uncertainly, hating not being able to see her destination.

They emerged into a three-cell dungeon. The stone walls dividing the cells held the only two sconces which lit the room. Sunlight reflected down a small tunnel, highlighting a semicircle of grey stone. Everywhere else disappeared into flickering shadows and damp corners. The wizard wrinkled his nose at her as he directed her to the end cell and disappeared back through the doorway, leaving her alone.

'Hermione?' Grindelwald's voice drifted from the darkness at the back of his cell. She lit her wand, holding it up to illuminate the small room. The dark wizard was sitting against the back wall and he shielded his eyes when the light flared across the room.

'Gellert!' She exclaimed happily, flicking her wand so that the light soared up to the ceiling and conjuring a blanket so that she didn't dirty her elegant robes as she sat on the ground in front of the cell. The prisoner lowered his arm, blinking rapidly as he acclimatised to the sudden brightness. A smile spread across his face as he saw her sitting there and he pushed himself up, sitting back down closer so that they could talk.

He was wearing the same shirt and trousers that he'd been arrested in; although the usually crisp white shirt had browned slightly with grime from the dirty walls. He was unshaven, which struck her as strange because even after the time he'd spent in Nurmengard he'd not grown a beard. It stood to reason though that he shaved wandlessly then, an action now prohibited by the silver bracelets on each wrist.

'I didn't expect you to come. Is everything progressing well?' He asked and she frowned.

'The Wizengamot easily proved our innocence, Kingsley is temporary Minister for Magic, the laws have changed and muggleborns are coming out of hiding.' She summarised the state of the government briefly and he nodded.

'So you've won.' He finalised, looking downcast despite his statement being one that should be happy.

'Yes, there's about thirty people that have asked to stay in Nurmengard; about ten of whom are war orphans and underage. Lavender volunteered to look after them and Neville has them hard at work cultivating the grounds already. Arthur and Molly Weasley will stay for as long as it takes them to rebuild the Burrow, then they'll move on.' Grindelwald seemed interested, so she nattered on for a bit longer, sharing everyone's plans as they petered out of the castle and returned to their lives.

'What about you?' He asked her seriously and she hesitated nervously. This was one of the main reasons that she had visited him so early.

'Kingsley has offered me the post of Deputy Minister for Magic.' She said uncertainly. One of the things she liked most about Grindelwald was that he was intelligent enough to understand exactly her hesitations and he took the time to think his answers through.

'You'll find very few magically weak wizards are successful leaders, simply because we are hardwired to follow those stronger than us. You will have very little trouble with the demands of the position, the publicity will follow you anyway, particularly when it becomes common knowledge that you duelled Bellatrix and took on Malfoy Manor and Hogwarts with just me for backup. The difficulty will come because of your bloodline, because you don't have the backing of an old family. You'd be successful either way, but you'd become unstoppable if you could win the support of an ancient family.' He finally offered, almost seeming to think aloud.

'There's not many ancient families that are in a position to give support, let alone willing.' She pointed out and he considered for a second or two.

'The Malfoys.' He finally decided, 'It would be reasonably easy to argue to keep them out of Azkaban and they'd be indebted to you. Not to mention that all their houses on British soil have been destroyed.'

'Unlikely. They hate me.'

'Desperation can easily change people's minds and the Malfoys will be very desperate indeed.'

'If I could get Malfoy backing?'

'The wizarding world would be your playground. There's very little that can stop a powerful, muggle born war heroine with the backing of an ancient house. Of course, everything belonging to house Grindelwald is already yours which should help persuade them.'

Hermione considered; several different ideas and plans running through her head. The Malfoys were currently being held in Azkaban and she was fairly sure she could get them released. With their full backing, she should be able to find the evidence she needed to free Grindelwald easily, then she could leave the position once the wizarding world was settled and devote her time to researching advanced magic. Finally she nodded.

'We are of course working on getting you released to Nurmengard. We hope it won't be too long before we can get you out of here.' She added, forgetting the most important bit of news she had. 'They want to inspect the warding on the tower and insist on several ICW guards. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to do away with those bracelets just yet but hopefully we can look at a good behaviour agreement.'

She stopped, realising the Grindelwald was just gaping at her.

'You do want that right?' She suddenly asked, nervous that he'd be upset.

'Of course I do... it's just you've got nothing to gain, I can't understand why you're doing this.' He admitted and she laughed lightly.

'It's because you're my friend, of course I'd fight for you.' Then, deciding that they'd had enough of serious subjects and remembering his complaints over how bored he'd been in Nurmengard without anything to exercise his brain, she pulled out and resized the runes text books that she had tucked inside her robes.

She'd been enrolled in newts and scheduled to sit the exam in autumn; the arithmancy and runes were simple after what they'd accomplished over the summer but she'd misjudged the tedium of working through so many simple translations. She figured a prisoner with nothing else to do would at least appreciate the task. The transfiguration was likewise easy – Grindelwald had taught her far beyond what was required for newts but she was miles behind in astronomy and potions.

She then pulled out an assignment, opened a pot of ink and balanced a clean sheet of parchment on a book. He watched with interest as she straightened the quill that must have ended up under the ink bottle and dipped it in the ink.

'I was wondering if you could help me with a history of magic essay.' She finally explained and he suddenly looked wary.

'I know very little of anything beyond the path of the elder wand through history.' He informed her and she laughed.

'You'll be able to help with this one, trust me.' She said as she held the assignment up to her ball of conjured light. ' _Describe in detail the influence of the goblin rebellions on The Dark Wizard Grindelwald_.' She read out the first essay question and the wizard opposite her choked.

'None.' He managed to splutter between coughs. 'I didn't take history of magic in school.'

'Wrong, your motto was inspired by the similar motto of the goblin leader Earhawk the Cruel. You also used his escape from custody to help plan your own escape in 1927.' She corrected and he snorted in indignation. Then she read out the next question, ' _Evaluate the motivation behind the attempted burning of Paris by Gellert Grindelwald in 1927._ ' She grinned at the wizard opposite her as he shook his head.

'Why do I suspect my answer will be marked as incorrect?' He muttered and both of them laughed. 'The Lestrange woman ruined my favourite way of sharing visions.' He grumbled, which she scratched down on the paper.

'Actually Gellert, you'll find your real motivations were to demonstrate your power and to officially declare war against the ICW.' She corrected. They laughed their way down her list of questions until the guard came to fetch Hermione. She hugged him through the bars before leaving him with her runes assignment to complete whilst she was away.


	26. Chapter 26

Hermione had explained her plan to Harry over dinner that evening, an almost painful experience because he just didn't have the Slytherin streak needed to see why the support of the Malfoys was necessary. Eventually she gave up, begging him to trust her and inform Nagini that she needed help.

The snake understood what she needed immediately and the two of them disapparated for Diagon Alley first thing in the morning. The first errand was to pick an owl, which Hermione had expected to be as difficult as selecting Crookshanks had been. It ended up being considerably more difficult as Nagini insisted that she needed the best owl. Hermione kept the shop keeper entertained with the moderated story of how she had rescued Nagini from Voldemort as the snake slithered up the rows of cages, looking at the various birds on display. Once they had been shortlisted, Hermione picked out the fastest one in full knowledge that her mail had to go particularly far. The shop keeper tried to give her a discount but she refused, paying the full amount and leaving the shop with her new familiar and her serpentine friend.

She sent the owl off straight away with the letter asking to visit the Malfoys that she'd written the evening before.

The next stop was Twilfitt and Tattings. Nagini had turned her nose up at Madam Malkin's, so Hermione had taken her to the only other clothing shop she knew. The shop owner sneered at her when she came in, taking in the jeans and tshirt that she wore with obvious disgust.

'How can I help you Miss...?' The shop owner trailed off, hinting to be given a name.

'Granger.' She supplied, unsurprised when the witch's attitude changed immediately.

'Miss Granger, welcome to our shop, how can I be of assistance?' The woman grovelled and Hermione walked over to the rows of robes hanging against the walls.

'I'm looking for a set of everyday robes.' She answered, letting Nagini in through the door behind her. 'This is Nagini, a maledictus. I have found her to have impeccable fashion sense.' She introduced as the snake slithered up to the rows of clothing. To her credit the owner didn't even seem slightly fussed, following as the snake selected several items off the shelf and putting them aside for Hermione to inspect. They'd had a long discussion the evening before, via a very bored Harry, and Nagini had decided that all the clothes in Nurmengard were too out of date to impress a society doyenne such as Mrs. Malfoy.

The Maledictus quickly narrowed her options down to a deep crimson robe with a knotted belt and a simple fitted black one fastened with a single button. Hermione quickly chose the latter, deciding that the crimson was a little too Gryffindorish.

They purchased the robe as soon as it was fitted, apparating straight back to Nurmengard where a house elf had laid out the jewellery. She changed quickly as Nagini picked out a pair of simple earrings and apparently house elves could speak to snakes because they had a furious argument over her hair and makeup. Eventually the snake must have won out because the elf grumpily snapped its fingers and Hermione's hair popped into a simple bun with the escaping strands framing her face in soft curls. She put on the earrings Nagini had chosen, pleased with the overall effect in the mirror. She looked like a mature witch, without it looking like she was trying too hard. To someone that didn't know her, it could have passed as everyday officewear.

Kingsley's reply arrived just as she was preparing the feminine briefcase with an undetectable extension charm. He had notified the Azkaban guards to expect her and given her a portkey to the gates.

Harry wished her luck, not seeming to notice her unusual attire as she shoved everything she could imagine herself needing into the briefcase. She gave Nagini a hug and took the offered portkey.

Her first thought was that Azkaban had nothing on Nurmengard, it was a still summer day in the northern sea and the water rippled docilely against the rocky outcrop. In the bright sunlight, the walls were a light grey, lichen splashing pale green and yellow across the surface. With the absence of the dementors it really was an almost benign, where Nurmengard still thrummed with the echoes of the dark arts.

A guard met her at the entrance, leading her through heavy wooden doors and into a carpeted entrance hall. There was a guard room off to the right, but she was led into a waiting room on the left. He pulled out a chair for her respectfully, all without saying a word and she sat at the table in silence as he left to fetch the Malfoys.

All three of the esteemed purebloods looked worse for wear. Heavy iron manacles wrapped around their wrists, Narcissa in particular seemed to struggle with hers as they were marched across the room and forced into chairs across the table from her. There were several minutes of waiting as the guards shackled the three to their chairs, then they were finally left alone.

The three purebloods still managed to look down their noses at her as she carefully opened her case and pulled out a sheet of parchment. She deliberately made them wait as she arranged the sheet just so. Even in her short time with Grindelwald she had learned so much about how to play people but now she was testing her skills against the masters.

'I do hope you have been treated well.' She finally said, it was small talk and she hoped that they would catch on. She needed to bore the nosy guards enough that they wouldn't notice when she cast a privacy charm

'Well enough, Miss Granger.' Mr. Malfoy finally replied.

'That is a very nice robe, Miss Granger, may I inquire as to where you got it?' Mrs. Malfoy added and Hermione quickly identified that she was the one to engage in mundane small talk with.

'Oh, it's from Twilfit and Tattings. Nagini and I needed some time away from Nurmengard. It gets a little stifling in the mountains.' She answered breezily, deliberately throwing in the snake's name. It was enough to catch their attention but not well known enough to interest the guards.

She heard a conversation start up on the other side of the door and quickly cast a privacy charm.

'I believe I have an offer that might interest you.' She finally said, fixing her gaze on Lucius Malfoy. She needed this to be a business proposition and although she stood more chance of intimidating the youngest Malfoy, he was also the most likely to be ruled by his emotions.

'What could you possibly offer us?' The Lord demanded and Hermione smiled, twirling her wand absently.

'Well, Kingsley has offered me the position of deputy minister for magic. I am already in a position to take him up on his offer of course; I'm sure you are aware that I was the leader of the Order of the Phoenix and I am the lady of Nurmengard.' She explained, not missing the expressions of surprise that all three Malfoys hurried to cover up.

'It sounds like you are already a very successful witch, Miss Granger.' He purred and she smiled coldly at him.

'Not as much as I could be with the backing of an ancient British house.' She suggested and Lucius snorted.

'You're wasting your time.' He informed her curtly, but to her surprise Draco interrupted him.

'My father is set in his ways. Please excuse him.' She turned to the youngest Malfoy; he was leaning forwards and regarding her with an expression as interested as his father's was bored.

'You are all facing life sentences, only Draco has any chance at parole. Having a war heroine plead your case would go a long way towards changing that.' She pulled out a list of their convictions and placed them in front of the family, along with the common sentences for each crime. She was impressed that the Malfoy lady and her son managed to keep blank faces despite the large numbers following their names. Lucius was glaring at the wall behind her so she didn't even think he'd seen the parchment.

'Of course, supporting a muggle born in politics would go a long way to restoring our name.' He murmured and Hermione nodded confidently.

'What political policies are you pushing.' Mrs Malfoy demanded and Hermione allowed a small smile to slide across her face.

'Muggle born equality, house elf and magical being's rights. The old ways are dying, taking the old families with them. I'm offering you a chance to be the family that supports this positive change, this nasty business with Voldemort will be quickly forgotten.' Lucius was sneering and looked ready to throw a barrage of insults in her direction.

'Would you be able to silence him, I fear he's about to do something he will regret.' Narcissa sighed and Hermione covered her amusement as she flicked her wand in the direction of the elder death eater.

'Just to make sure we are clear, you want the support of the Malfoy family in your position and in return you will make every attempt to reduce our sentences.' Draco confirmed, leaning back in his chair and Narcissa nodded approvingly. He considered for a few moments and Hermione deliberately withdrew the contract from her folder. She'd laboured well into the night over the spell work, if both of them signed it would be nearly as difficult to break their agreement as an unbreakable vow.

'Very well. My father has no interest in this deal or the good of our family, leave him in Azkaban and I will automatically become head of house.' He agreed, leaning forwards as she passed over a black quill in an elaborate ivory box. None of the three Malfoys were able to hide their shock as they identified it.

'Where on earth did you find one of these?' Draco murmured as he looked over the box. It was admittedly a very rare artefact that almost certainly was created by dark magic. Gellert had taken her around the cabinets in their living quarters during a break from the horcrux project and this had been one of the objects he had pointed out. The quill was similar to Umbridge's in that it wrote in the blood of the holder, however the genuine versions were not a petty torture tool for punishing children. This quill didn't leave a scar; instead it bound the signatories to whatever they had signed to, if they broke their agreement, they would pay the price in their blood.

She ignored the question and slid the contract across to him, turning to Narcissa as he read it over.

'I am aware that all but your property in France were destroyed during the fighting, I also have intelligence which suggests that property has issues with lethifolds.' She saw the unease ripple across the family. She was unnerving them, making sure they knew that they were not the powerful ones in this relationship. 'I am rather accomplished with the patronus charm, I'm sure I could have the property cleaned up in a week or two. I also have several spare bedrooms in Nurmengard that you're welcome to use in the meantime.' She offered and Narcissa nodded graciously.

Draco passed the contract to his mother, his elegant signature gleaming crimson at the bottom. She signed without hesitation, her flowing writing joining her son's. The contract and the quill were carefully passed to her and she signed, carefully concealing her wince. She then replaced the quill in its case and returned it to her case.

'Would I be correct in assuming that Lucius forced the two of you to follow in his allegiance with Voldemort?' She asked slyly. 'Could I also assume that after he accepted Voldemort into your home, your lives were threatened unless you obeyed him?'

Both Malfoys nodded, and they shook hands across the table, manacles clanking. She carefully slipped the signed contract into her case and ended the privacy charm. She stood and knocked on the door, the guard let her out and she didn't look back at her newest allies.


	27. Chapter 27

She accepted Kingsley's offer that evening, her new owl taking off eagerly from the balcony. Harry was off with Ginny downstairs, so Hermione decided to go through the spare rooms that she had offered to the Malfoys and make sure they were suitable.

They were very similar to her own; she had to fix the enchantment on the window in the first room because it was showing a winter morning when it was actually a summer evening. She chose a couple of relatively harmless books to arrange on the dresser and put a couple of sets of women's robes in Narcissa's room.

The second room was for Draco, so she sent an elf to find men's toiletries and clothing and began to arrange the books she had picked out on the table. She spun when she heard footsteps behind her and found herself staring straight into the mismatched eyes of Grindelwald. He was furious, at what she didn't know but the darkness roared and crackled around him.

'I was mistaken in trusting you.' Grindelwald growled, levelling the elder wand at her. She stuttered, running through her memories desperately to figure out what she'd done wrong. It couldn't be offering the Malfoys shelter? He had seemed keen for her to cultivate them, he'd seemed fine when she visited a couple of days ago. The longer she remained unanswering, the angrier Grindelwald seemed to become. He slashed his wand and blue fire streamed out, Hermione leapt backwards before it could touch her, then paused.

She could still feel her dormant oath to Gellert, he was still far away and magically bound, so this Grindelwald was someone or something else. She dodged another stream of blue fire, noticing that it didn't catch the carpet alight.

' _Riddikulus_ ' She cried, hoping that her gut was right. A sharp crack marked her success and the boggart-Grindelwald was forced into Trelawney's dress and hair. She cracked a smile, knowing that the dark wizard would hate it if he knew what she'd forced anything in his likeness into such an outfit.

She forced it into a snuffbox, resolving to take it downstairs to where Lavender and Neville were planning to start a summer school for any children whose families couldn't be found. Most of the adults had dispersed by now, leaving only those whose houses had been destroyed; Professor McGonagall, Hagrid and Flitwick were staying until Hogwarts had been rebuilt, Trelawney was staying with Professor Sinstra and Slughorn was taking advantage of his new status as a hero. Most of the Hogwarts elves would be returning to the castle each day to help with the rebuilding, although that came under the head of house's responsibilities, the paperwork for which was currently piling up on her desk.

Ronald was yet another issue on her desk, one that was on her to-do list for the day. It was one that she knew she couldn't put off much longer, but that she didn't really know how to approach. Gellert would take a hard line on the traitor; it was one thing to attack her in a fit of anger, but it was very different to jeopardise all that they had fought and died for over the past couple of years. She guessed that he would fall under Lichtenstein law, which was so ancient that it could legislate anything. All he'd done was make a false report to the ICW.

She found Harry and Ginny on the Weasley floor playing wizard's chess. As usual, both of them had been decimated and their pieces were both threatening to strike. Harry was trying to persuade his knight to take Ginny's bishop and Ginny was threatening her bishop into holding its ground.

They both looked up when she stopped over them and they stood to wrap her in a hug. Ginny bluntly informed her that she looked exhausted and in a manner that was disturbingly like her mother, bustled around to make her a cup of tea. It was always a point of contention on this floor that Mrs. Weasley had forbidden the elves from performing any chores, from cooking to cleaning. That meant the Weasley children had to tidy their own rooms, boil their own water and as the matriarch was currently spending every day rebuilding the Burrow, cook their own lunches.

They exchanged news over tea – Hermione sharing what she had learned from her international forays and Harry and Ginny informing her on the situation at home. The witch was helping Neville and Lavender keep the kids distracted as the teachers worked to track down their parents. The grounds were coming along swimmingly; Neville had been keen to preserve the stunning natural beauty of the valley but had taken happily to the challenge of persuading ivy to grow up the manticore coated walls without damaging the protective layer.

It was strange having so much news to share, almost as though they were strangers. When she thought about it, she and Ginny certainly may as well be, they'd hardly spoken since last summer. Hermione was always so busy, first researching with Grindelwald, then training and ending the war and recently with her political ambitions.

She managed to lead the topic in a somewhat natural manner to the topic of what to do with Ron. Fortunately, neither of her Gryffindor friends even suspected her of subterfuge so she could get away with her less than perfect skills. Ginny fired up immediately, furious at her brother and daring him to face her again.

Harry, surprisingly coolly, mentioned that he was certain he could be tried by the court in Britain for interfering with their democratic process. At the very least, he suspected that there were Liechtensteiner laws against lying to the authorities. Ginny muttered something about how Hermione was basically the government already and that she should just leave him to rot in his cell for the rest of his life.

She shot the young woman a disapproving look as Harry summoned the book on Lichtenstein law from his room, adjusted his glasses on his nose and flicked through the pages with practiced ease. Ginny sighed and summoned a candle, lighting it so that her boyfriend didn't have to squint so badly.

'Well, the punishment for "presenting deception to watchmen of the witangamot" was being fed to the trolls.' Harry finally said, closing the book. Both witches gaped at him.

'So we have to feed him to trolls?' Ginny asked incredulously.

'As far as I can tell, maybe we should try and get him tried in Britain; at least the punishments are slightly less archaic.' Harry muttered, summoning yet another massive tome to him. This time it took him longer but he eventually found the relevant sections. 'There's not much here, it seems like its trolls or nothing.'

Hermione sighed and leant back. There was a part of her that was angry but not enough to wish for death for someone who used to be her best friend. However without a "witangamot" as the Lichtenstein government had been called, it was impossible to update the laws.

'I'll send him away today. In the meantime Harry, could you see if you can figure out how we can install a new government in Lichtenstein. We have more than fifty people living here; there must be something we can do.

She wore the robes she'd bought to visit the Malfoys; an elf did her hair and makeup. She found a set of heeled dragon hide boots and a long black dress to go underneath the robes. To face her ex best friend, she needed to be Hermione Granger, Lady of Nurmengard and soon to be Deputy Minister. She couldn't afford to run away from these confrontations as Hermione the muggleborn bookworm had.

She strode down to the cells where Ron had spent the last couple of days. It was, Hermione reflected as she passed the hundreds of barred doors, significantly more comfortable here than where Gellert was being kept by the ICW. There was enough light to see by, so long as one didn't mind the blue and it was at least dry. It didn't take her long to find Ron's cell, counting down the numbers on the doors so that she didn't go too far.

The redhead was awake when she pushed the door open, the torches flaring uncomfortably bright in the corridor behind her. A look of fear crossed Ron's face as he took in her silhouette before he quickly smirked.

'Come to kill me for your master?' He taunted and Hermione allowed the lights outside to dim. She twirled her wand and looked down on him.

'Actually, you're free to leave.' She informed him, he leaned back as if the floor was a throne.

'I think I might stay. What can you do about it, run to Grindelwald? Or is he in prison still?' Hermione straightened her posture so that she loomed over him.

'I am the Lady of this house, everyone in it is here at my behest. I can and will order you to leave, I can and will revoke your key to the wards. Make no mistake, I can and will unleash the full power of this house should you ever return.' She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she could feel the dark magic that blanketed the house stirring as she spoke, the torches seemed to flicker and the shadows leapt greedily towards Ron.

The redhead stood quickly, seemingly cowed and she planted her wand squarely in his back and marched him down the flights of stairs to the front door. The students working in the gardens cheered as they saw them but Hermione ignored them, forcing Ron all the way down the valley to the edge of the forest.

'You'll pay for this Hermione! You're nothing, at least I'm a pureblood.'

'Actually, I think you'll find that means very little.' She said dismissively before turned away from him and strode back up the path to the castle.


	28. Chapter 28

**I'm not abandoning this fic, to those that have been concerned. I did write the first 30k words in just over a week, but unfortunately I can't keep up that pace forever. Updates will still come, just not twice daily anymore. Probably expect one every day or two. Bey.**

The day of the Malfoy trial, Nagini not only removed the smart muggle suit she had set out for herself, but also her entire wardrobe, presumably in cohorts with the elves, as moving clothing would be almost impossible for a snake. Instead, she found an assortment of old fashioned dresses and formal robes. Each garment was finely made and most probably cost more than she owned. Resigned, she donned the black knee length dress and heels that had replaced her suit on the chair. An elf popped in to do her makeup and pulled her hair into a stern, businesslike bun.

The head elf had then brought her breakfast, which was notable in itself because like the Hogwarts elves, the Nurmengard elves were never seen as they performed most of their duties.

The head elf was older than Kreacher, dressed in a sheet that could have come from the bed in Grindelwald's cell. His large, batlike ears drooped slightly on one side, which gave him a very lopsided look. Hermione scented a potential SPEW victory even as she pondered the unusual service.

'Suds must be seeing Mistress for monthly meeting, Suds cannot reach the Master.' The elf grovelled, offering her a plate of exquisite little sandwiches on a silver plate as if to appease her for his unexpected appearance.

'Ah, yes.' She placed her book aside and took one of the sandwiches, gesturing for the elf to leave them on the table. She had learned the hard way at Hogwarts that a direct approach was not the way forwards with house elf rights. They poor creatures were so indoctrinated that they didn't even realise how they were treated was unfair.

'Suds is reporting that the kitchens is less busy with less people. Suds promises that when Hogwarts' elves return to Hogwarts, kitchens will make better dinners again.' The elf reported officially and Hermione nodded, doing her best to look friendly as the elf suddenly became less sure.

'Suds does not know if the Mistress needs a Ladies' Elf, we's not had a Ladies' Elf since Suds' father was a small elf ' He questioned. She pondered for a minute, wondering what on earth a "Ladies Elf" did, she assumed something like the job of a ladies' maid in a medieval household. If that was the case, she could certainly dress herself.

'I believe we can do without a Ladies' Elf for now thank you, Suds. Now, I have a few matters I wish to discuss with you.' She said, catching the creature before he could disappear. Fear wrote itself across the elf's face. 'Your attire for example, it is unacceptable.'

'Suds' attire, Mistress?' The elf repeated, puzzlement replacing fear.

'Yes, that sheet is positively filthy. I would like every elf to wear something clean.' She clarified, then, as if the idea had just occurred to her, 'how about a uniform, that way the elves can be seen in public and serve guests even when they are not using the enchanted plates. It would need to be practical of course, and comfortable, bearing the phoenix crest and in the house colours.'

The appalled expression that the elf had worn at her initial suggestion of clothing, quickly changed as she explained her reasoning. By the time she was finished, the old elf was actually nodding along with her.

'Please, discuss the matter with the other elves and bring me your suggestions at the next monthly meeting.' She dismissed, focusing on the sandwiches to disguise her triumphant grin. The elf disappeared with a pop and left Hermione to her breakfast.

Harry met her and they flooed to the ministry at exactly half past nine. A hunched man met them at the wand desk, looking inordinately proud as they were identified and he led them to the elevator. The man announced them loudly to the only other person in the downward-bound cage; a wizard with a very round face looked up from a scroll he was reading, nodded and went back to his perusal of the parchment. Their escort looked like his disinterest was a personal affront, but before he could say anything, the lift stopped at the Department of Mysteries and the man got out.

The trial would take place in courtroom two – the largest and most impressive room for trials, courtroom one being reserved for the debate and voting over laws. They took a sharp left turn and took a set of stairs opposite the door to the Department of Mysteries. Voices drifted up from below – she could hear Luna and Ollivander, as well as the excited tittering of Rita Skeeter and the clack of her camera. Hermione smoothed her robes, knowing that if all went well, her and Harry would be sharing the front page with two of the Malfoys the next morning.

She'd been to courtroom ten before in her disguise as Mafalda Hopkirk but two was a very different room. Two was massive, the blue-green tiles forming arches that disappeared into the mass of waiting dementors that swirled beyond a dozen patronuses above their heads. The floor was dark wood, broken by three black holes which the prisoners would rise from. Arranged so that they looked down on proceedings, the Wizengamot were arrayed in their purple robes. Kingsley stood at the podium in his official role as minister, his own signature violet robes standing out against the plum of his compatriots.

The witnesses and the media were led to benches at floor level, although still behind an intimidating wooden facade which separated them from the central floor. She took a seat with Harry on the "defense" side of the room; a movement that immediately garnered a reaction from the assembled media.

Luna came and sat with them but the majority of people sat with the prosecution. Among their number were a tearful looking woman accompanied by her husband, a widowed old lady and Ronald Weasley. The red head sneered at them across the room which yet again garnered another flurry of movement from the reporters that separated them. It wouldn't make the front page, Hermione guessed, but it would probably be second or third.

Once everyone was seated, Kingsley called for calm and introduced the session. With a grating noise, three chairs rose up through the holes in the floor, bearing a bound Malfoy each. She couldn't see their faces but both all three sat straight in their chairs, heads held high even as dementors flanked them.

Kingsley began by reading their crimes and asking if any of them denied that they had committed these acts. All three of them did, which moved the trial into the evidence presenting stage. He began with Lucius Malfoy, asking why he believed himself innocent, to which he answered the imperius curse. The room burst into an uproar as people shouted abuse towards the Malfoy heir. The minister had to send up sparks to regain order, and even then people only silenced unwillingly. The elder Malfoy was then given a chance to argue his case, which lead to him explaining how he'd named a half blood as Draco's godfather, clearly proving that he was not a blood supremacist.

With no witnesses to his defence, the proceedings quickly progressed to Narcissa. Hermione stepped up to the witness podium immediately and relayed how she'd been imprisoned in her own house at the end of the final battle and how she'd tried to stop her sister from torturing her last Easter. She argued in the exact wording that Harry had provided for her, that Narcissa had been under the coercion of her husband and then later on the direct threat of Voldemort himself. Harry then stood up and relayed something about how she'd stood on the sidelines of the Battle of Hogwarts instead of participating. Finally, Luna said that she'd snuck them a bottle of dittany whilst she was imprisoned.

Narcissa then provided several memories for the perusal of the wizengamot, claiming that her husband had hit her on several occasions for suggesting they flee and several more proving that Voldemort had tortured her. She claimed that everything she had done was to try and protect her son.

With that the spotlight was turned to the youngest Malfoy and Hermione provided the memory of Dolohov dragging him up the path, clearly saying that he wasn't showing enthusiasm and that he'd be punished for it, she then also provided a memory of his unresisting body leading Grindelwald into the manor; you couldn't tell he was under an incredibly strong imperius from her angle. Harry related how he'd refused to identify the clearly recognisable trio at Easter and then offered the memory of him crying in the bathroom.

Malfoy offered up several more memories and then Kingsley asked any witnesses for the prosecution to stand up. The couple told the wizengamot how they'd been tortured y both Malfoy men for information on their auror son before managing to use an emergency port key to escape, although the woman had admitted that the younger Malfoy had been very reluctant to participate. The widow had to be escorted out as she burst into tears describing how she'd hidden in the closet as her husband had been murdered by Lucius Malfoy.

Ron then explained how Mafoy had been a bully since their first year, bragging about his pure blood and how he hated muggleborns. He described how Lucius had slipped a cursed book into Ginny's cauldron and been responsible for the attempted murder of several students. He then described how Draco had framed Buckbeak, which was dismissed as irrelevant. As he moved onto sixth year and reminded the court of how he'd endangered the lives of the students, including the attempted murder of himself, Madam Bones interrupted him.

'Mr Weasley, we are aware of Mr. Malfoy's infractions. Unless you have anything relevant to add, please return to your seat.' She ordered and Ron went bright red. He gaped like a fish for a few minutes before hurrying back to his seat.

There was a short pause as the wizengamot discussed the proceedings, then Kingsley called for silence again to read out their sentencing. Unsurprisingly Mr Malfoy was found guilty and sentenced to life in Azkaban, to the cheers of the assembled witches and wizards. Then Narcissa and Draco were given a year of house arrest followed by five years of probation to observe their behaviour without Lucius' influence, which caused interested murmurings. He had to pause as Ronald was dragged from the room, hurling insults at both the Malfoys and Hermione. Their drama would definitely make page two she decided.

Kingsley asked if anyone wished to dispute this sentencing, at which point Hermione stood and reminded the court that both their habitable homes had been destroyed during the fighting and made and apparently generous offer as Lady of Nurmengard to house them until their French home could be repaired. The Wizengamot hardly spent a minute discussing this before they agreed and the Malfoy's sentence was adjusted accordingly.

The sighs of relief were drowned out by the furious shouting of Lucius as his chair sank back into the floor so that he could be escorted back to Azkaban. Meanwhile the chains slithered back into the remaining chairs, freeing Draco and Narcissa. They were escorted by guards out of the room to fill in the relevant paperwork and Harry and Hermione left the now loud courtroom to follow them.

They waited outside the office on level four until the Malfoys had had a trace placed over them and their wands returned. Already anticipating the waiting reporters, Hermione took the time to fix her hair to match her public image. Narcissa and Draco emerged back in the clothes they had been arrested in and with surprising foresight; Harry summoned Kreacher with a fresh set of robes for them both.

As anticipated, they made the front page... and the second.


	29. Chapter 29

She'd thoroughly enjoyed the expressions on the Malfoy's faces as she'd led them up to the intimidating facade of the prison. It looked even more intimidating in autumn than it had in summer, the russets and golds of the grounds leading up to the base of the rocky cliff the castle was build on contrasted sharply with the black of the tower, making it look even darker than before. The cavernous entrance in the base of the cliff was like an inky maw, lit dimly by the blue flames on either side of the portcullis.

The heavy armoured doors stood open, the rough planes of the dragon scales reflecting the light cruelly. The main staircase led straight up from the doors, disappearing into bluish gloom as it ascended through the cliff to the castle proper. She led them up the stairs, then along the maze of corridors that had been so confusing when she'd first arrived. As they went, she explained that now they'd visited once, they could use one of the many port keys to move more easily through the castle.

She thoroughly enjoyed leading them through the cell blocks and past the lingering dark magic of the experiment rooms. Although they were allies now, Malfoy had still been the one to torture her through the entirety of her school career, so she had to take pleasure in his unease.

After the lower floors of the castle, the upper floors were a blinding difference. Here, the sconces were all filled with bright golden fire that flickered merrily without seeming to create deep shadows. The sounds of the "Nurmengard children" laughing drifted through the lower living levels; music came from behind one of the doors whilst an open door further down the corridor allowed for a view of two girls practicing fire charms. She paused, knocking on the door and sending the two very apologetic students down to the duelling room to practice magic with a scolding for practicing a dangerous charm in a carpeted living area.

The two Malfoys gaped as they were led past many more occupied living areas, seeming to realise for the first time just how many people inhabited the castle. She pointed out the library, cautioned them against entering Grindelwald's personal storage rooms. Finally, they reached the auditorium and she ignored their confused questions as she led them into Grindelwald's private quarters. She didn't need to worry about privacy, due to a strange little ward that Gellert had placed on his rooms at some point – as soon as they were no longer staying in the rooms, they would forget their location and even exactly what was inside.

The appearance of the room managed to draw a gasp from the usually inscrutable Mrs Malfoy, and she quickly hurried to the windows with their spectacular view of the valley. Hermione showed them the dining room and library through the right hand door and was half way across the main room when pain seared across her mind.

She cried out, stumbling forwards as fire exploded behind her eyes. Her vision flickered and someone caught her as she fell. She heard someone calling her name as if from underwater, but couldn't remember any words to reply, or even how to speak. Doors opened and shut as she battled the pain, cooling magic washed across her body but did nothing to ease the pain in her head.

Someone tipped a potion into her mouth, the thick mixture forcing its way down her throat. She screamed, which came out as more of a gurgle, then the potion's effects must have kicked in because everything suddenly went black.

She woke up to coldness and an overwhelming feeling of abandonment and loneliness. The occulumency shields that she'd spent so many hours working on were in tatters, her mind felt like wolverine had taken his claws to it. It didn't even take her a minute to find the nucleus of the disturbance, everything radiated out from her bond with Grindelwald.

Or at least from where the bond had been.

She froze, double and triple checking the empty space but he was unmistakably gone. Tattered threads that had once bound them floated into space, almost as if they were searching for something to latch on to. She left them, knowing that she should probably fix the mess but not confident enough in her occculumency skills to know where to reattach everything. The mind was known to heal itself in time anyway.

She finally stirred, turning in her bed to see that it was dark. The moon shone through the massive windows but the peak of the mountain opposite was gilded in gold rather than silver, so the sun was just starting to rise. Someone sat in the chair by the window, but they stood when she turned and hurried over to the bed. It turned out to be Ginny, and she quickly ran a couple of diagnostic spells but Hermione knocked her wand away, sitting up quickly.

'Where's Harry?' She demanded as soon as the black spots in her vision faded. The witch promised to fetch him, on the condition that Hermione remained in bed. She agreed, despite knowing that she could just summon him with a patronus because she didn't feel up to fighting Ginny at that moment.

Harry must have been in the living areas because he arrived within a minute of Ginny leaving to fetch him. She had pushed herself up so that she was sitting against the headboard and her two friends came to sit at the foot of the bed.

'What happened Hermione?' Harry asked, concern colouring his voice. Hermione took a deep breath to steel herself.

'My bond with Grindelwald broke.' For a minute there was silence as they digested this.

'So he's dead?' Ginny asked but Hermione shook her head.

'Possibly, or someone took his magic, or his soul...' She paused, considering whether to reveal what Dumbledore told her. It was important that her two closest friends knew every possibility though, so she told them that Grindelwald had admitted it was possible for him to break the bond.

For a minute, silence reigned over the room before someone knocked on the door. Harry went to open it and she heard Narcissa taking to him. He returned looking like death had come knocking, his face grey and his white knuckled hand clutching a newspaper. He wordlessly opened the folded document and spread it out on the bed.

A photograph of Grindelwald stared up at her; he was chained and in dirty clothing but unlike the prison photographs of the death eaters, he looked more amused than mad. A massive headline sprawled across the top of the page; _Grindelwald escapes from ICW custody; another Dark Wizard at large._

Ginny swore.


	30. Chapter 30

She obliged when the ICW called her in, accompanying the representatives as they "escorted" her to their headquarters to be questioned. Her wand was confiscated and she was left in a dark room with only a table and chairs for company for several hours. She forced herself not to pace, if she knew anything about Grindelwald, every minute they gave him would make him harder to find. Unfortunately she could only guess as to what he'd escaped to do.

Finally, a haggard wizard took the seat opposite her and they both sat in silence, Hermione had no doubt that there was a wizarding equivalent to one way glass and many more people were watching her invisibly.

'Where were you at seven o'clock yesterday evening.' He asked and she easily answered that she'd been showing the Malfoys around their new home with Harry. She related the story of how she'd collapsed and the state of her mind the next morning. The wizard noted this down, seemingly unsurprised. She wondered with some embarrassment if she really had been the only person to not realise Grindelwald could break the bond.

She consented to take Veritaserum, after which the questioning moved onto what they'd spoken about when she'd visited. She discovered then that she was one of those people that was very susceptible to the potion as she babbled on about her plans with the Malfoys and her History of Magic homework. The wizard tried to get a word in edgeways as she went on to describe the exact living details of everyone at Nurmengard. Eventually she did run out of subject matter and could finally stop talking, thankful that at least veritaserum inhibited blushing so the watching witches and wizards couldn't see how mortified she was.

The next question was carefully worded to only require a yes or no answer, as was the rest of the list because after the last debacle she only had a couple of minutes under the influence of the potion. She told them that he was not at Nurmengard and she hadn't received any communications with him. They almost had another slip up when the interviewer asked if they'd made any plans before his arrest but fortunately he was fast enough to tag on a hurried clarification before she finished drawing breath.

With the interrogation over, she was allowed to sit alone until the effects of the potion wore off. With her innocence established, it didn't take long for the ICW to put her to use as one of two people who knew Grindelwald better that the chapter in a history book.

They took her down to see the cell in case she could see some signature they'd missed. The dungeons were immaculate; the only sign that someone had even inhabited them until last night was the bed in the corner. They'd only discovered him missing when they'd come to deliver dinner and found the cell empty. The cell was still shut, the wards were intact, he'd even taken Hermione's arithmancy homework and text books. His wand was still stored securely in the artefact rooms and nobody was missing theirs. There had been no disturbances during the day, the guard at the door hadn't seen anyone unauthorised enter and the wards hadn't been breached.

The investigators were stumped, and as Hermione seemed to be their best chance she was given a grovelling, overly sincere apology for the interrogation and they almost begged her to look through his belongings to try and find a clue.

Knowing that she was at least partially responsible for his release – not this particular time, but if she hadn't been foolish enough to believe that such a simple bond could hold him... Out of a sense of guilt she promised to look through his belongings that evening and see if she could find any evidence of a bolt hole he might have run to.

They offered her aurors to protect her rooms that night but she refused them. The last thing she needed was anyone untrustworthy learning about some of the experiments Grindelwald had stuck to his walls. In her opinion at least, there were only two possible explanations. It was unlikely that Grindelwald had somehow managed to remove his bracelets and impossible that he'd escaped entirely without magic, so the only probable explanation was that he'd had inside help. That meant everyone in the ICW was suspect in her eyes.

Nurmengard was tense, everybody had heard the news and feared that their new found home might suddenly be taken away from them. Hermione gathered everyone in the auditorium to update them on the situation which did little to quell the fears. It was with a heavy heart that she tuned everyone's portkeys to take them to the British Ministry in an emergency before dismissing the crowd.

Back in their private rooms, she began the daunting task of sifting through the mountains of information in Grindelwald's room to see if he had any other safehouses. It was a long, slow task, especially because she knew that 1940's Gellert had been far to paranoid to leave such crucial information in plain sight. She had to check every innocuous parchment, book and box for concealment charms of every type. It wasn't enough to just check for the usual ones of course, Grindelwald had been no school boy and he certainly wouldn't have shied away from using blood magic to hide something important.

She gave up after the first desk full of items, throwing herself back on the bed and summoning tea from an elf. Usually she'd make it herself but she just couldn't spare the effort at that moment.

She realised that just searching the room would get her nowhere; he could build and ward an entirely new safehouse before she got half way through the pile. She needed to think like him, what place would Gellert and only Gellert be able to look?

Her eyes fell upon the racks of silvery vials and she realised that she'd probably just hit the jackpot. Unfortunately, she couldn't just go searching though that many visions of the future. There was a reason it was dangerous for non-seers to watch a vision and she'd struggled enough with just the one. The only person who could search through that cabinet was another seer and Grindelwald was, to her knowledge, the only one that powerful currently alive.

A traitorous little voice in the back of her head whispered that it would only be a fair price to pay. Her sanity for the security of the wizarding world, for the _Greater Good_ and all.

She hurried out of the room before she could do something without fully considering it, leaving the tea cooling on the bedside. Her own room was a much safer thinking space.

She picked up the clothes that Ginny must have changed her out of when she collapsed the evening before and dumped them off her favourite chair. A heavy clunk and a fiery reflection drew her attention to the pile of clothing and she bent down to pick up the object curiously.

The vial of Grindelwald's vision glistened silver, not even a trace of black in its swirling depths. He hadn't betrayed them... so he wouldn't have broken their bond, unless he was protecting her from something.

Suddenly her search had a new direction and purpose. Gellert was out there somewhere and he was in serious trouble.


	31. Chapter 31

Hermione was one of the few awake when the ICW arrived to see if she'd made any progress. She met them at the portcullis that had been closed for the night, waving her hand to raise the massive metal door. She then led them into the meeting room with a swirl of the robes Nagini had picked out for her.

The two representatives took a seat at the large table as she used her wand to fill the kettle and put it on the fire. She took a seat opposite them in one of the large chairs and they filled her in on everything that they had discovered.

It was a short conversation because nothing seemed out of order. His bonds had been checked by Lisette Lussier as she did every day at lunch time. The only discrepancy on that front was that she'd cancelled a holiday that morning because her daughter was sick. They'd even checked that fact out of desperation; she'd come home from Beauxbatons several days before with a nasty case of Banishing Coughs.

The wizard who'd been sent with his meal had been interviewed and nothing unusual had come up there. He'd picked up the food from the muggle kitchens and changed the utensils to plastic, then he'd taken it to the usual cell. Again, the memories checked out and the only reason he was really under suspicion was that he'd once expressed pity for Grindelwald and his grandparents had been followers of his in the 1940's. Although that was nothing special when most of wizarding Europe had been under his thrall, most people had a great grandparent who'd followed him.

Then it was time for Hermione to report on what she had found, she clutched the vision tightly under the table as she lied about how she'd spent the entire evening searching his room for clues. She said nothing about how she'd buried herself in the library to search for tracking spells. She also didn't tell them how she planned to spend the rest of the day looking into Grindelwald's personal library and research for more advanced magic

'When do you think he'll strike?' One of the witches asked, tapping her sheet of notes with a quill. Hermione paused for a moment, pondering her answer. She needed to make herself invaluable to them, she needed to be on the front lines if they finally found him so that she could spirit them away to their ICW immune Lichtenstein castle where they could work on proving his innocence from safety. Then again, she needed to have him found as quickly as possible and the ICW had resources at their disposal.

'Whenever we duelled he would always strike first. He believed that put him in control of the situation.' She finally answered, it was a less than subtle reminder that she was the only living witch to have traded spells with the Dark Wizard. Maybe she could get Harry to drop some hints to remind them that he had duelled Voldemort, then she would have an ally.

Almost as if thinking had summoned him, Harry appeared at the door with a letter. He tossed it to Hermione, despite it being clearly marked with a purple seal. She read it with dread uncoiling in her stomach – it was a report of a major statute of secrecy breach by Grindelwald in Paris. The representatives in her home were summoned and an invitation was extended to her to lend her perspective.

She passed the scroll to them, and allowed herself to be side along apparated to the Wizarding section of the cemetery in Paris. They arrived inside a police cordon, manned by ICW officials dressed as officers and "taking statements" from every muggle that had witnessed the incident. She saw a confused muggle telling another that there had been a gas explosion, despite the older man's insistence that there had actually been a burning triangle in the sky.

The witch that greeted them had frazzled dark hair and her police uniform was rumpled. She briefed them on the situation; Grindelwald's signature blue fire had seared his symbol in the air within sight of over a thousand muggles. There was only one injury from a house that had caught fire but fortunately he had only suffered minor burns and had been sent to a muggle hospital.

Hermione knew immediately that this wasn't Grindelwald's work. There was just no point to it, Gellert didn't make mistakes with his fiendfyre; it was his favourite spell, so it never would have spread to a house unless he meant for it to. If he had intended it, there was no way he would have let the muggle get away with such minor injuries. Then there was the obvious evidence against it being fiendfyre at all – for a start it was impossible to force fiendfyre into a specific shape without engraved runes, the very nature of the spell made it form magical animals.

She was shown to the centre of the arena where bystanders claimed the spell had been cast from. She paced the area but the stone floor yielded little evidence. Eventually she was called over to a white police tent with the officials.

'This incident was clearly not an attack so we can only assume it was a message of some sorts to his followers. Maybe he is hoping that whatever signal he has just sent was passed down to the children of his old supporters.' The hectic looking witch said as soon as everyone was gathered. Two Spanish wizards muttered something furiously between them before finally falling silent.

'Maybe an old assembly point.' One of them finally spoke up.

'Or a signal to begin some plan.' The other added with a furious glare at his peer.

'This wasn't Gellert's work.' Hermione said breezily and seven pairs of astonished eyes fixed on her. 'I have seen his spellwork; this is too messy, even with a borrowed wand.'

'So it vas a diversions?' The German wizard asked, tugging at the end of his black moustache.

'Or a call from one of Grindelwald's followers to him; maybe to let him know that he still has supporters.' An American wizard murmured and everyone fell silent for several minutes as they pondered their options.

'Mr Plumber, please go to the archives; I want a list of every descendant of Grindelwald's closest followers. Anyone who might move to support him, I want to know about it. Kostova, please accompany him and send a team to any high risk candidates on the list immediately.' The harried witch ordered and one of the British wizards disappeared with the German.

'Haani and Gill, check on the international prisons with a class A warning.' A woman in a hijab took the arm of an American woman and they disappeared with a pop.

'Miss Granger, we would appreciate if you could try and find any mentions of this signal in your home. In the meantime we will keep you up to date. Don't be afraid to send an owl if anything comes up.


	32. Chapter 32

She hadn't even taken her robe off before a squirrel patronus dived through the open window to deliver an urgent summons to Azkaban. Not a second later, Kingsley's Lynx summoned her to help deal with a massive breakout.

She sent her own patronus to Harry and Ginny and pulled her cloak on again. They were both ready to go by the time she arrived and she grabbed their hands to side-along apparate them to the prison with little more than a nod of greeting.

Hermione had seen more warzones that anyone should have by her age but the scene at Azkaban was still a shock. The top had been blasted clean away, exposing the honeycomb of cells inside. Confused dementors drifted through the rubble that littered the small island, patronuses rounding them up like sheep.

A gaggle of wizards stood in the cavernous maw that had once been an entrance, brown auror robes mingled with purple ICW. Kingsley and Madam Bones stood out in black and Hermione headed for them, knowing that the command group would likely be around them.

'What happened?' Ginny asked as they came within speaking distance. The tight circle opened up to allow them in and the witch in the Hijab, Hermione recalled her name to be Haani, sighed before recounting the story again.

She'd disapparated with Gill from the site in Paris and visited the Bastille, she'd delivered her warning to the guards there, then headed to Azkaban. She'd arrived to find the prison ruined and the guards bound in their guard room. The attack had taken place early in the morning, well before the fire in Paris and one of the guards had witnessed Grindelwald storming the citadel.

Hermione requested the guards memories, a request which was quickly granted and a silvery vial of memories was passed to her. She stored it in her pockets as an Auror burst into their command circle to report who was missing.

The list was long and daunting; almost every death eater that they had captured in the final battle had escaped, a couple of petty criminals that had been close to the blast were either missing or dead and the rest were roaming the corridors and freeing those that had yet to escape. It would take days, if not weeks to reorganise the prisoners into repaired cells and reactivate the wards. The auror bemoaned the prospect of having to fight the death eaters rallied behind a leader as experienced as Grindelwald.

Something didn't feel right to Hermione again though. There was no denying that whomever had caused the explosion was immensely powerful and they had eye witnesses claiming to have seen Grindelwald in person. Both were compelling evidence against him, and even though he hated the death eaters he had as much as said to her that sometime you had to ally with your enemies. It was also hard to imagine the death eaters wanting to ally with Grindelwald after he had killed their last master, then again she was quoting Grindelwald by saying that "desperation can easily change people's minds". She would need to look through the memories closely to find any redeeming evidence.

She nodded her way through a tour of the guard house and an innocuous corridor that they believed to be where the blast had originated from. As soon as possible she left Ginny and Harry to help with the cleanup and apparated to Nurmengard.

The two Malfoys were enjoying lunch in the living area and they both looked up when she entered. Narcissa needed at her cordially over her cup and Malfoy greeted her politely. She realised that they deserved to be kept in the loop, especially considering that Lucius had been one of those to escape today. She sat down opposite them with a somber expression and they both immediately put down their utensils and gave her their full attention.

'I assume that you don't have good news.' Draco said dryly and Hermione snorted in an unladylike manner.

'Not particularly. Azkaban was broken into today and among those that escaped was Mr. Malfoy.' She kept it brief, not wanting to go into the turbulence of Grindelwald's involvement. It seemed her explanation more than enough because Narcissa went white as a sheet and Draco dropped his baguette into his soup.

'He'll come for us.' The elder lady whispered and Draco's knuckles went white. 'We're blood traitors now.'

'You're safe here. Gellert was nothing if not paranoid when he designed this castle. The wards are fully charged, it took an army with Dumbledore at the head weeks to bring it down last time.' She reassured them and Narcissa relaxed slightly. Draco, with personal experience of Grindelwald's aptitude with warding, didn't dispute her point but he seemed to relax very little.

Then, with the vial of memories seemingly burning a hole in her pocket, she left them to view the memories in Gellert's pensieve.

She appeared in a shabby yet comfortable room, worn furniture arranged around a blazing fire and a small kitchen area. Three massive wizards were crammed into the space, patronuses meandering around the room. One of them reached out to idly pat a silvery dog as it wandered between the couches, then all three silvery animals popped out of existence as an explosion shook the building.

For a second there was silence, then one of the men began shouting orders and calling for his peers. One man dived across the room and hit a large button, the other scrambled to pick up his dropped wand. The three formed a triangle and burst out of the room. Hermione's view was blocked but she saw the red flash that downed the lead man. She squeezed through the gap to see who had attacked and was shocked to see Grindelwald. He stood in the middle of the hallway, alone as he took out the second guard. The third, who's memory this must have been, ducked behind the doorway as dementors streamed down from the upper levels.

Hermione watched as Grindelwald turned to face the new threat, noticing as he did that he wasn't wearing his usual permanent shield. Then he waved his wand in a motion that was intimately familiar to her. A silvery animal that was something between a squirrel and a rat bounced from his wand to chase the beasts away.

As far as she remembered, Grindelwald couldn't cast a patronus and she'd seen the patronus shield repel him, which she counted as fairly solid evidence that as of a few weeks ago he still couldn't. The obvious conclusion was that this wasn't Grindelwald. Whoever it was was desperate for people to believe he was.


	33. Chapter 33

**Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.**

It went very quiet for a long time after that. As the days went past the ICW stopped pestering her about finding something in Grindelwald's belongings, seemingly coming to the conclusion that there was nothing. There were no more attacks and strangely, no sightings of the escaped death eaters either. The residents of Nurmengard didn't relax though, they were all war veterans that had been caught unawares before. None of them were willing to make the same mistake twice, so the duelling room saw almost as much use as it had in the lead up to the final battle.

Hermione buried herself into research on tracking spells, hoping to be able to find something that Gellert had discovered or developed. She'd considered creating her own but had quickly come to the conclusion that she most certainly didn't have the talent for it. Without Gellert to guide her, she really stood no chance.

It was painfully slow work; he must have made a specific effort to work in English when they were working on the horcrux ritual. Almost everything else that he had worked on was in German and Harry's neat little translation charm unfortunately didn't work on his handwriting. She had to go through each document with a German-English dictionary, translating enough words to get the gist of each page.

She just confirming that one particularly beefy leather bound book was about conjuring replacement body parts when a loud crack made her jump and knock the book to the floor. The binding split as it hit and the pages fluttered across the room in who knows what order. She spun, narrowly catching the chair as she knocked it over and stabilising the desk as the ink pot threatened to spill over her neat translations.

There was a person on the floor, crumpled in a heap and unmoving. She knew instinctually that it was Grindelwald, despite not being able to make out any features in the dim lighting. She waved her wand to brighten all the lights in the room and hurried over to him.

He looked terrible; dried blood crusted his unconscious face and dark bruises bloomed across his almost hairless scalp. Her hand came away from his shoulder sticky with blood and she tore his filthy shirt off without a second of hesitation. There was a large chunk missing from his shoulder with the rawness of a splinch, so she summoned dittany. A bottle zoomed out of his cabinet, and she tipped it generously over his skin. As the magic substance went to work she quickly checked for any other injuries – it would be stupid to treat the splinch and miss the knife sticking out of his back.

There wasn't a knife anywhere, although she noticed that he'd lost a lot of weight in a very short time. His ribs cast shadows across his skin and dark bruises mottled his chest. The bruises worried her because she knew they meant internal bleeding and they were clearly very severe and all in vital areas. She would have to research spells and potions for internal bleeding, fortunately she knew where to find those.

His hands were a different story all together. The manacles were gone but he must have pulled his hands through the locked metal bands to escape them. There were old sores from the chafing, overlaying scar tissue from many different arrests before they'd met but his skin below that was in tatters. His thumbs were both dislocated, the skin, muscles and tendons torn around them as he'd forced his wrists through a space far too small for them. There was similar damage to his little fingers and Hermione had to force herself not to be sick. This was damage far beyond what she could repair.

The question was who could she go to? The healers at St. Mungos were out of the question, Grindelwald was very much a fugitive at this time. Madam Pomfrey had returned to her cottage in Dorset at the end of the war but at least she trusted Hermione and hopefully wouldn't report them.

She sent a patronus to the nurse, hoping that she would respond to the plea for help. She left the message intentionally vague, just saying that someone was injured and needed her help. Once the silver animal had faded through the door, she quickly busied herself with levitating Gellert onto the bed. She scougified his trousers and fully removed his shirt, then conjured a bowl of warm water and began wiping the blood off his face.

A patronus appeared to let her know that Madam Pomfrey was in the infirmary and she sent a reply telling the medi-witch that she would meet her in the auditorium. She dabbed at Grindelwald's face until all the blood was removed, puzzled to not be able to find a source for it all, then she left to fetch Madam Pomfrey.

The medi-witch had thrown a pair of robes on over her nightdress and had a bag of tools and potions cradled in her arms. She was breathing hard, so she must have heard the urgency in Hermione's message. The two witches wasted no time with pleasantries, instead hurrying through to where Gellert lay unconscious on the bed.

Immediately the mediwitch got to work, to her credit not asking a single irrelevant question. Hermione pointed out the injuries she'd noticed and Madam Pomfrey agreed quickly that the internal bleeding was by far the worse injury. She noticed that there was blood on his face again, leaking from his closed eyes and nose.

The mediwitch noticed as well and pulled a dozen vials out of her bag. Hermione poured each one down his throat, spelling him to swallow each one. Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey began to tend to his hands. She tutted fretfully as she worked despite only taking a couple of flicks of her wand to realign all the damaged bones. She added skelegrow to the line up of potions, then started work on the more intricate parts. It was grossly fascinating watching the muscles and tendons knit back together, then the skin. Once the new skin shone pink, Hermione began gently smoothing dittany over his hands and wrists to help with the scarring. Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey began work on his other wrist.

The mediwitch finished with his second wrist, then made disapproving noises over the scarring from his previous imprisonments as the two witches finally sat back. There was no way to tell how late it was, or how long they'd been working but the wizard on the bed looked massively better. New skin gleamed pink across his wrists and hands, the bruises across his face and torso had faded and his ears, eyes and nose had finally stopped bleeding.

'Madam Pomfrey?' Hermione asked, 'What could have caused all that?' The mediwitch sighed, a troubled expression crossing her face.

'I've seen it as the result of several dark curses and some muggle viruses but he has none of the side effects common with those I know. Is he a strong occulumens?' She asked. Confused by the apparent change of topic, Hermione nodded.

'I thought so. I've seen similar symptoms once when someone attempted to modify the memories of an occulumens. I would assume it is an effect of extreme exertion and pressure on the brain.' She concluded. Hermione nodded, realising that until Gellert awoke, they would have no idea just how successful whoever had attempted to modify his memories had been.


	34. Chapter 34

**Double Merry Christmas!**

Hermione barely left Grindelwald's room over the next two days. She followed Madam Pomfrey's instructions to the letter, massaging dittany into his hands and scalp every two hours and feeding him a massive array of potions in the mornings and evenings. Whatever ritual kept him young must also affect his rate of healing because Madam Pomfrey couldn't believe how much he had improved when she visited to check up on him. The bruises had almost disappeared across his torso, and those around his face had faded to a mottled yellowish brown. His hair had grown back to a fuzz across his scalp and the injuries on his wrists looked no worse than the scarring already there.

Yet he remained unconscious.

She'd stopped her research, instead trying to figure out how she'd break this to the ICW. She considered letting Harry and Ginny know that he had managed to get back to Nurmengard, then realised that neither of them had the occulumency shields required to keep such a secret.

In the end, the problem was solved for her, and not in the way she'd hoped. Draco had seen her taking her meals into Grindelwald's room and assumed it was her study, so when the ICW had arrived to see if she'd made any progress, he'd shown them in. She had completely missed their owl and so when someone knocked on the door she just assumed it was Madam Pomfrey and called them in.

Fortunately, the warding prevented them from just apparating out with their news and her reflexes had been quickened by Gellert's training enough to disarm them and have them petrified on the floor before they could flee on foot.

A confused Draco helped her levitate the trio onto chairs and conjure ropes. He nodded when she swore him to silence before he left her alone with four unconscious bodies. She renervated the ICW wizards, recognising the German and the Haani but the second witch was unfamiliar. The three of them immediately started struggling when they awoke

'I want you to hear me out.' Hermione demanded, grabbing their attention. The unknown witch looked between her and the unconscious Grindelwald before spitting on the floor and calling her a Dark Witch. Hermione ignored the insult; it was beginning to become almost as unoriginal as "mudblood".

She explained how Grindelwald had appeared in the room and described his injuries. She hypothesised about how she thought he was innocent, earning scoffs from her small audience. Then she described her reasoning – how the attack in Paris just didn't have a purpose and how the break in at Azkaban just didn't fit. She knew that she had convinced the German when he started pointing out other circumstances that just didn't fit but Haani still seemed unsure. The other witch was glaring at her in a way that suggested that she hadn't listened to a word Hermione had just said.

'The ICW vill know, you can't obliffiate them.' The German wizard murmured quietly. The two witches were sleeping soundly under a powerful charm as she discussed how to broach Gellert's innocence with the one she'd managed to fully convince.

'I can't let them take him away again.' She admitted.

'It vould be dangerous. Grindelvald is a valuable veapon to anyvon who vishes to learn the dark arts. Vile he is on our side, it is safest for us all vhen he can defend himself.' The wizard agreed. That hadn't been Hermione's main concern but it did make sense. Grindelwald knew too much and was too powerful to risk him coming under the control of anyone with nefarious purposes.

'You vill have to assert the independence of Lichtenstein.' He said after some consideration.

Hermione looked deeply into the tea leaves at the bottom of her cup. She wished that she had Grindelwald's guidance here; his experience in international politics would be much appreciated. It was legally within her rights to not hand him over, Lichtenstein had no deportation agreements but she didn't doubt that the ICW would have no issues moving on Nurmengard with force to seize an international criminal – they needed to be seen acting on a dark wizard threat after they had so spectacularly ignored Voldemort. Her only hope was to try and persuade them that he was innocent, which was a lost cause, they couldn't admit to such a massive mistake so soon after the last one.

The idea that occurred to her then was nothing short of genius, getting all the pieces into place was another matter entirely. She would need Harry for certain, maybe the Hogwarts professors and she'd certainly need Grindelwald awake and coherent. The Malfoys would have a lot of the contacts that she needed, as would Kingsley if she could get to him in time.

'How long will it take them to move against us?' Hermione asked. The German looked over her appraisingly, almost as if he was reassessing his previous opinion of her.

'A couple of days, a veek at the most.' He replied somberly and Hermione nodded. She did a rough calculation in her head, working out how much time she had. The wards had held for two weeks last time but she had no idea how charged they were this time relative to then, she could accommodate for some leeway in the absence of Dumbledore. Combined with the reaction time of the ICW, she could safely guarantee two weeks. It would be cutting it fine and it would certainly be a large gamble. She would have to consult with the people living at Nurmengard and warn them in advance. Even if they chose to leave, she felt that she owed Grindelwald too much to just hand him back over now.

'Let them know that Gellert apparated here with serious injuries. We have him in custody but he has yet to regain consciousness. I will meet with them once he is medically stable.' She decided. It was a neutral decision, one that gave her time to prepare and more importantly, time for the people that lived in Nurmengard to make their decision. It wouldn't be much time, but it would mean that at least one more set of messages would have to be exchanged before the ICW marched on them in full force.

The German nodded and stood, they shook hands and he promised to do his best to keep her updated on the situation. Then it was time for them to part ways, Hermione stunned him, then rennervated all three at once so that the two witches wouldn't think he had received any special treatment. She informed them that Grindelwald was unconscious and in custody, giving them their message to deliver back to their peers. The German winked at her as she politely but firmly escorted them out.

She watched until they had all disapparated, then shut the portcullis with a massive bang.

She had a lot of letters to write.


	35. Chapter 35

She wondered if Grindelwald had just been pretending to be unconscious. He was awake when she returned from escorting the ICW out and he was suspiciously aware. She threw herself across the room, only slowing at the last second so as not to hurt him as she pulled him into a hug. He let her embrace him and the way he remained unresponsive and stiff was almost comforting in its familiarity.

'You stupid, stupid man.' She scolded as soon as she pulled away, batting his shoulder lightly. 'I was so worried, and I couldn't find you because you broke the bond. I had no idea what had happened to you.' Suddenly she was crying and she leaned forwards to hug him again, burying her head into his shoulder.

'You're not angry?' Gellert croaked. Hermione just sobbed in reply. 'We can redo the oath if you want.' He offered and she sobbed all the harder.

She suddenly remembered that he was due another round of potions and she jumped up, turning quickly so that she could hide her face as she organised what he needed to take. She spent longer than necessary, feeling his eyes boring into her back, until she was confident that the blotchiness from her unexpected bout of tears was gone. Maybe the pressure of having so many people relying on her was getting to her. It took everything she had to not offload it onto the recovering Gellert at that moment.

He protested every potion she fed him, arguing that he was better and that he didn't need anything but without the strength to fight, he was forced to take them anyway. He levelled a glare at her that would have sent her running if she didn't know that he'd never hurt her. She glared right back, imagining that the slightly manic way that her hair surrounded her head made her look like Bellatrix. Grindelwald sipped his skelegro and pepperup with an expression that could only be described as sulky. He then had the gall to look amused as she rubbed the dittany into his wrists. Smugly, she dug her thumb into the gap between the tendons of his first and second fingers. She was rewarded by a hiss and flinch.

Then she unfortunately had to burden him with business.

'How long will the wards last under an attack?' She asked him. He jerked his head up to look at her.

'Who is attacking?' He demanded and she sighed.

'I will not return you to the ICW, so I assume they will try to retrieve you by force.'

'You can't put everyone here out of a home just for me.' He protested and she almost laughed. If anyone heard the Dark Wizard protesting against displacing a few civilians from his own castle...

'I'll inform them of the situation. Whether they choose to leave or not is up to them but I have a plan.' She said mysteriously.

'What plan?' He finally asked, and she smiled, glad that she had someone with experience to confide in.

She told him her idea as she waited for the Nurmengard residents to arrive in the auditorium. He seemed sceptical, but the Hermione was confident that nothing of the sort had ever been attempted in the wizarding world. She only believed it would work because she'd seen similar things work in the muggle world.

She forced him to remain in bed with a sticking charm on his legs and a complex but quick locking spell on the door. It would be simple for him to escape with a wand but she strongly suspected that he wasn't yet up to doing it wandlessly.

The auditorium was much quieter than it had been the last times she'd taken the centre stage, yet somehow it still felt packed. Everyone knew that this must be an update on the situation at hand and she could almost feel the nervousness in the air. She swallowed down her own nerves, knowing that this would be her first real test.

Silence fell as she stepped out onto the floor and fifty seven pairs of eyes riveted on her. She took a deep breath and thanked everyone for leaving their busy days to meet with her. Several laughs swept the room at this; most of them had nothing to do other than train in the duelling room, after all, the majority of them had grown up in a war.

She then began by reminding them of everything that Grindelwald had done for them; saving them at Hogwarts, then rescuing many of the from the dungeons, taking Malfoy Manor and saving them at the Battle of Grimmauld Place, then offering them a home in his personal castle. She spoke for the first time about the horcruxes, brushing over the details of how he'd saved Harry and therefore saved them all. Then she changed her tone, describing the cell that he'd been kept in by the ICW and telling the story of how he'd been kidnapped and torture, how someone was using his name and reputation to free dark wizards across the world.

Her audience gasped and cried out in all the right places, spurring Hermione to continue. She explained how Grindelwald had arrived a couple of nights ago, painting a picture of his injuries.

'He has saved my life more times than I can count and asked for nothing in return. I cannot stand by and repay his generosity by abandoning him in his time of need. I plan to refuse when I am asked to return him to custody.' Cheers of support met this declaration and she allowed them to continue for a minute before raising her hands for silence again.

'I warn you now, this will not be taken lightly. I believe the international community will come around to our beliefs but not before they launch an attack against us.' She carried on, shouting over the uproar at her words, her voice ringing out across the room. 'Nurmengard will not fall!' She cried, a couple of cheers met her cry. 'We have powerful wards and this castle was built to withstand an attack.' Finally the audience quieted, so she lowered her voice and met the eyes of everyone in the room.

'It will be dangerous, there is always the chance of defeat, anyone in this castle will be named an international criminal until our innocence is proven. I give everyone a choice now, to leave the castle or to stand up for what we know is right. I for one will not abandon the one who has saved my life for some politician's publicity!' She ended her speech emphatically, a roar greeting her words as everyone called out that they too would stay. Not a single pop of apparaition marked someone fleeing the castle and the roar slowly morphed into a chant of "Nurmengard, Nurmengard"

She turned to find Gellert standing in the shadows of the archway into their rooms. He wore a stunned expression as he watched the still chanting crowd filter out of the room.

'The wards will give you two weeks.' He said sombrely and Hermione sent him a wry smile.

'I think I might have an idea about that too.' She said as she joined him. They strolled back into the rooms. 'Have you ever read _Hogwarts: A History_?'


	36. Chapter 36

She'd succeeded in getting Grindelwald to sit down at the big desk in the living area and had forced him to let her fetch every book he needed. She'd read once that Hogwarts was built on a ley line, and she'd also witnessed how despite every other ward falling, the muggle repelling charms and the masking charms that made it unplottable had remained standing. Gellert quickly confirmed that he'd also built Nurmengard on a ley line because they were believed to increase the powers of a seer.

Gellert then verified that wards were usually all linked to the same source, including the masking charms. _Hogwarts: A History_ confirmed that the other wards had been added after Salazar Slytherin had left. The other founders had feared that he would return to exact vengeance and had built the other warding without his assistance.

Her theory was that Slytherin had built his wards to power off the ley lines, which possibly explained why they had lasted without being recharged. They'd confirmed her theory with Dumbledore's portrait and he'd been able to tell them that there was a wardroom in Hogwarts. Hermione then sent a patronus to McGonagall to ask permission to speak to the Hogwarts founder's portraits in the headmaster's office.

With permission granted, she compromised with Gellert and side along apparated him to Hogwarts. They appeared in the headmaster's office, which had been almost fully repaired. Many of the portraits were missing, being restored by several experts from around the world. Fortunately, one of the founders was still intact. Helga Hufflepuff sat alone without her peers, the bright spaces on the wall highlighting where Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw had once rested.

The witch watched them, along with all the other remaining portraits.

'Ms. Hufflepuff?' Hermione asked, trying to hide how she'd hoped for Ravenclaw.

'Miss Granger.' The dumpy witch said curtly, then she looked at Grindelwald and scowled. 'and Mr. Grindelwald. We do not appreciate your type here.' He looked surprised that he'd been recognised. 'Oh don't look surprised, you were in the papers on that desk enough times.'

'Because I'm from Durmstrang?' He asked innocently and Hufflepuff sniffed.

'How can I help you Miss Granger?' The lady asked, the smile which graced her face as she addressed the Hogwarts students looking far more suited to her.

'We were wondering about the original warding at Hogwarts.' Hermione began and Hufflepuff's face immediately closed off.

'There are students at my castle which need protection.' Grindelwald interrupted her, turning from the books he'd been looking at to look at the portrait. 'We're only interested in the muggle repelling charm that Mr. Slytherin used.'

He really was a brilliant manipulator. Hufflepuff's face softened slightly as soon as he mentioned students but to her credit, which really shouldn't have surprised Hermione because she was still a founder, she seemed aware that just because they only wanted the innocuous wards didn't mean they couldn't alter them to harsher ones.

'You plan to use it to build a ward to protect students?' She confirmed suspiciously.

'I'm sure you're aware that the war with Voldemort left many orphans. My castle seems to have become an orphanage. Traditional blood wards are just not suitable in the modern climate, especially around children.'

Hufflepuff seemed to be struggling not to cave in completely when he mentioned orphans.

'You have a silver tongue Mr. Grindelwald. Rowena and Salazar would have been at each other's throats to supervise your education.' Hufflepuff sighed, 'Salazar's wards were powerful, advanced magic. He spent months researching and only just managed to complete the warding before he left. He always kept his research in his secret chambers which is why we couldn't do the same with the later wards.

'Brilliant!' Hermione exclaimed, sending a patronus to summon Harry as Grindelwald thanked the portrait politely.

Harry appeared with a pop, claiming that he was glad to get away from the castle for a bit before they were all shut in. He hugged Gellert, much to the dark wizard's discomfort, and slapped him on the back several times as a masculine expression of how much he'd missed him.

Neither of them explained to him why Harry was necessary, so he trailed behind them as they led the way down to the bathrooms. He faltered when he saw the sign, looking between the door and the two ex-students incredulously.

'Salazar Slytherin's secret chambers are in a girl's bathroom?' He asked incredulously. Uncharacteristic fear painted his features and Harry ducked back out of the bathroom. He took one look at Grindelwald's expression and elbowed Hermione in the side.

'Told you he'd rather die than enter a girl's bathroom.' He laughed and Hermione chuckled. Gellert scowled at the young man.

'That's because I was brought up in a civilised time, unlike you modern hoodlums.' He retorted, striding past them and into the bathroom. Harry laughed as he followed him, heading straight to the sinks. Grindelwald pointedly looked only between the floor, ceiling and windows, studiously avoiding looking at the cubicles. Of the three of them, only he looked glad when he could finally jump down the dark slimy hole and into the chamber.

It was exactly as she remembered it, the circle of Harry and Hermione's wandlight illuminating slimy bones and pebbles. Hermione, who had visited more recently quickly led them off in the direction of the chamber. She hated the constant sound of dripping down here and always feared that someone would flush a toilet at exactly the wrong time.

The massive rock slide wasn't hard to find but there was no clean way to climb through, Harry slithered through the tiny space, needing a push to get through. Then he pulled the larger framed Grindelwald through and they both pulled Hermione's arms without thinking of the consequences of her not having hands to catch herself with.

She hobbled her way towards the massive metal door at the end of the tunnel, leaning on the shoulders of the two very apologetic men for support. Harry hissed and Hermione waited impatiently for the elaborate locking system.

'Where in here would be dry enough for books?' Hermione finally realised as they stood in the massive chamber. Their wet shoes demonstrating her point as the snake head fountains gushed into the reservoir.

'And somewhere were Voldemort wouldn't have found them.' Gellert added, picking up a stone and tossing it over the heads of one of the fountains. It clattered against a stone wall and splashed into to water.

'The snake came from that statue's mouth. Maybe that's where you can find his books, the basilisk would have taken up all the space when Voldemort was alive.' Harry suggested and Hermione grinned at him. Fortunately Grindelwald stopped them before they could try and enter, reminding them to check for wards. They found one which was easily deactivated by a simple parseltongue word from Harry. The checks also revealed a set of concealed stepping stones in front of the lake, which kept the trio considerably drier as they hopped across them and clambered into the mouth of the massive statue.

They followed the passage upwards for about five meters before it split into two corridors. The one on the left was drier and warmer, meanwhile the one on the right curved back down a little and she could hear water dripping from somewhere down it.

They took the left, which quickly opened into a lavishly furnished room. Hermione flicked her wand to light the candles, illuminating a very refined study. A massive dark oak desk was covered in dusty parchments but the books in the two bookshelves were protected by a stasis charm. Hermione quickly pulled out her beaded back and began loading books into it carefully. Harry checked the furniture over – a comfortable armchair in front of an empty fireplace, the tapestry on the wall and under the rug. Meanwhile, Gellert looked over the papers on the desk.

'This is fascinating.' He murmured. 'He'd worked out a form of Prior Incantatem that traced the magical signature rather than the wand.' Grindelwald shook his head and stacked up the papers carefully, carefully storing them in one of Hermione's plastic portfolios. He pulled the objects out of his desk draws less carefully, there were several pots of ink and a handful of quills, a couple of notebooks and some spare parchment. One draw was full of a seemingly random assortment of items, which Gellert declared to be full of dark magic and deposited intact in Hermione's bag.

With everything of interest plundered, they made their way out of Hogwarts and back to Nurmengard.


	37. Chapter 37

Research into the warding had to wait when they returned home. A large owl was waiting with an official demand for Hermione to hand over Grindelwald which meant that the ICW could attack at any time.

She stood with Gellert at the gates as he activated dormant protective enchantments that she'd never even heard of. The elder wand was familiar in his hands as he layered silvery magic across the portcullis. A flick of his wand closed the massive wooden doors with the groan of unused hinges, the boomed shut, echoing ominously up the hall. Mechanisms grated, slamming massive iron bracing bars across the join and thoroughly locking them. Yet more spells reinforced this, then spectres dressed in world war II uniforms whispered into ranks in the hallway.

They shut a final set of doors, these ones locking as well, then Hermione sent her owl out to the parties needed to put her plan into action. Then she stunned the unfortunate bird that had delivered the message from the ICW, hoping that it would give her even more time to prepare the castle. The elves were given orders to begin stockpiling food and sent to sellers and producers across the continent to find everything they'd need to keep everyone fed for several months.

Ever proactive, the residents had sent up a list of the potions they had brewed which she was happy to pass over to Grindelwald as the returned master of the house. He grumbled something about it being her war but looked over the list anyway as she sent a message to Ginny that a team needed to help the elves cast stasis charms on food. She received her positive reply as she was pulling out all the books that they'd taken from Slytherin's personal collection.

They easily quartered the books that they would need to look through by putting aside all the ones by wizards other than Slytherin. He had developed the technique after all.

Then it came down to looking through the notebooks and diaries that he had written to find the section on warding. It was slow work, the books had all been written before the Norman invasion and the English used was hardly recognisable. She begged Harry to stay, and he remained reluctant until he found a section on possible improvements to the broomstick enchantments on the school brooms.

She fought her way through several volumes that seemed to contain hundreds of different ideas, all jotted randomly throughout the book. Opposite her, Gellert mumbled under his breath in German as he struggled through this archaic version of his second language.

His perseverance paid off though, as they were finishing dinner he made a triumphant noise as he opened his second book of the day and passed it over to Harry and Hermione. The first page was a rough map of the ley lines across Scotland. The second was filled with a tight script which she dreaded trying to trawl through but concluded it was cruel to make Gellert do it.

It turned out to be horrifically complex, most of Slytherin's notes devoted to controlling the cataclysmic power of stronger ley lines. He'd managed to perform the spell early on in his research but struggled with anything more than the faintest line. Grindelwald assured her that they were on the intersection of two.

Magic itself had been very different in that time, most of Salazar's work seemed to assume wandless magic was the norm with wands being unstable. He lamented several times over how his experiments had failed because his wand simply didn't want to work. He'd also mentioned his staff several times, which in the 900's seemed to be considered a much more reliable form of channelling magic.

Fortunately, Hermione knew that Durmstrang students learned to use a staff from when she had dated Krum. The quiddich player had complained about it once, calling it outdated and useless. Gellert was happy to take over that aspect, confident that if they converted the staff sections to wand it would go a long way towards helping to control the flow of magic.

Hermione stayed up until the early hours of the morning, working through the process of the wards and Slytherin's experiments. He seemed to have structured the book almost like a diary and she couldn't help but get a sense of his character. He was a cold man but loved his school and shared powerful friendships with his fellow founders. He thirsted for knowledge, revelling in the unexplored boundaries of magic and dabbling equally in both light and dark magic. It was, Hermione supposed, what made him such a powerful wizard; Voldemort had pushed only the boundaries of dark magic, convinced that anything light was weak and useless. He'd limited himself and as Gellert had once said, he'd missed subtleties that he would have picked up on with a broader knowledge base. What made both Slytherin and Grindelwald his superiors is that they recognised the power of light magic without the constraints to just the light that had limited Ravenclaw and Dumbledore.

An interesting discovery was that Slytherin's hatred of muggles had been interpreted almost completely wrong. He didn't hate them, he was terrified of them. He made passing mentions of the witch hunts and burnings, lamenting over a child that he couldn't save. His only grievance with muggle borns was that they were often the ones found by the witch hunters and he feared that they would spill the secret of the two Lords and Ladies of Mòrthlach under the tortures reserved for those condemned as witches. It was this that spurred him to create a version of the muggle repelling charm that would keep the muggles away forever.

She also discovered that his moral compass relied almost solely on the opinions of his peers, he would often write down several different options for experiments and rank them in order of which Godric would approve of most. Hermione wondered if, like the many other similarities they shared, Grindelwald thought in the same way. She knew enough of history to know that he'd had issues when he was at Durmstrang, she knew Dumbledore had seen the version of Grindelwald that she did; there was always the potential, he had an aura beneath his carefully controlled expression, a certain volatility about him that made it seem like he was only just held back from unspeakable acts. When his friendship with Dumbledore had broken down, whatever restraint had been in place disappeared. She felt queasy as she realised just the position she held, it was more responsibility than Deputy Minister for Magic. She was Grindelwald's Godric.


	38. Chapter 38

**Huge chapter!**

Hermione read the first of her pile of morning newspapers with a feeling that could only be described as smug. The front page of the prophet was taken up by a massive photo of the residents of Nurmengard. The "Nurmengard children" stood in the front row, the ex-Hogwarts students behind them with arms slung around each other. The few adults from the order stood in the wings and bang in the middle stood Hermione and Grindelwald. The clip in the photo captured the moment that one of the students made a joke and everyone laughed.

"The Heroes of Nurmengard: standing up against oppression." Read the caption. Their story took up the first five pages.

The American paper had a photo of just Hermione, Grindelwald and Harry in front of the fireplace in the meeting room. Again, they were all smiling but Gellert's sleeves were rolled up to show the remaining scarring from his many imprisonments. This one had several smaller captions claiming that there was an exclusive interview with Grindelwald and Hermione and one lonely announcement about flesh eating slug repellent. The larger caption read "The price of saving the world."

She couldn't read the articles in the foreign paper but they all bore similar photographs; the Egyptian one had them in front of the gates, the French had just the castle and the German had the group photo again.

Her plan was working, she decided. The contacts that the Malfoys and Kingsley had provided to international media had all replied to Hermione's offer of an interview and almost all of them had agreed to her conditions. Within a week, everyone in the world would know how Grindelwald had voluntarily saved everyone from Voldemort whilst the ICW stood by. They'd know that he'd been incarcerated in an inhumane cell despite being willing to return to his previous prison.

Hermione smiled up at Gellert as he arrived through the dining room doors. He was slightly sweaty and leaned a worn staff up against the wall but his expression was positive so he must have had some success. He dropped into the seat opposite her, his usual breakfast of cold meats popping into existence on his plate. He snagged the German paper from the pile and Hermione watched smugly as he froze. She saw him reread the caption several times over, then toss the paper aside and grab the French one.

She hadn't realised he knew French but he spent several minutes flicking through it, so he must have.

'Hermione, you are amazing.' He said, putting the paper down.

'It's not really my idea. They use propaganda to influence politics all the time in the muggle world. I'm surprised wizards do it so little.' She admitted and he looked over her appraisingly. 'By the end of the week the whole world will think you're a hero, if not that then someone desperately trying to atone for his sins. Next week, the ICW will be the bad guys who failed to act about Voldemort, Narcissa and Draco will be interviewed on Friday. By the end of the month, they politicians will be forced to leave us alone or risk losing their elections.' She plotted as she buttered her croissant.

Grindelwald was staring open mouthed at her, then he quickly shut it as the door opened and composed his face again. The young Slytherin froze in the doorway as he realised just who was sitting at the table with Hermione. Grindelwald looked up at him with his usual dark expression and flicked his hand, sending a chair scooting out from under the table so that Draco could sit. Malfoy jumped and scurried around to take the seat.

Hermione caught the amused glint in Grindelwald's expression as he looked up from the paper.

'So you are Mr. Malfoy.' The dark wizard said contemplatively. 'Hermione has told me about your... friendship... at school.' His fingers brushed the elder wand on the table.

Admirably, Draco managed to get out an appropriate reply about how he hoped they would work more closely together in the future.

Gellert's scrutiny didn't leave him even as the dark wizard poured himself another cup of tea. He wandlessly floated the pot over to Draco who watched it approach as if considering whether to dive for cover. Hermione watched, trying to stifle her amusement as Malfoy reluctantly poured himself a drink and drank it without sugar or milk, clearly too nervous to ask Grindelwald to pass him the jug and bowl.

'Gellert, pass him the sugar, you've left him squirming long enough.' Hermione finally laughed and Grindelwald lowered the paper, letting Malfoy see his amusement for the first time. Her dropped the paper and passed the sugar and the milk to the relieved looking but still very pale boy.

'Draco, he's just winding you up. Gellert was actually the one to suggest that I speak to your family.' She informed him and he relaxed slightly. She supposed one could never relax having breakfast with another dark wizard after the last one that he'd lived with.

Hermione then spent the remainder of the meal trying to make him relax which Gellert took great delight in making difficult for her. Draco flinched every time the dark wizard picked up his wand, so Grindelwald did everything with magic, even folding up his napkin after the meal.

They believed that they had perfected the ritual the night before once the journalists had left. Everyone in the castle had been briefed on their part and would all be arriving at the entrance to the ward room that morning. As usual, Grindelwald was completely relaxed. He always was when they were about to perform an advanced, dangerous piece of magic. Hermione however could feel nerves already tingling through her. This would be the first time she had actually participated in one of their developed rituals, in fact, every resident of the castle would be participating. Slytherin had been certain that having additional people to help would have made the process easier and they'd decided to take the risk.

Gellert would be directing the ritual, with Hermione acting as a link. The students had spent the whole last two days studying joint magic under the careful tuition of McGonagall and Flitwick and they would link to Hermione via their respective teachers. Harry would link to her with their year mates whom he'd instructed the day before and Remus had volunteered to be Hermione's link to the adults in the castle. The idea was to harness the collective power of everyone present and use their numbers to harmlessly dissipate the energy that escaped from the ley line whilst they performed the link.

Of course, Slytherin had never been able to test his theory as the Europeans had never managed to develop the technique of linking staff magic. The same restrictions didn't apply to using a wand, so they'd decided to test the theory.

Slytherin had used an animal sacrifice to break open the ley line so that he could perform the link. Then blood magic to make the join and had almost killed himself using his own energy to heal the ley line again. Grindelwald seemed to already have an intimate understanding of energies but Hermione had still argued when he decided to use the ICW owl to begin the ritual. It hadn't mattered how many times he'd explained that using a magical creature meant that they wouldn't have to use such a large animal. She'd still have preferred a sheep or a cow, somehow they seemed easier to kill.

He was already waiting in the ward room when she arrived with the rest of the residents, leading them down one of the few corridors that they'd never seen. The blue fire burned brightly around the room as the dark wizard finished etching the slightly changed runes with his wand. She called out to him and he looked up, manipulating the fire so that they could all step across safely. The owl was almost unrecognisable from this side of the room, merely a dark shape on the altar.

Once they were all assembled, Grindelwald gave everyone a final briefing, describing the process in detail. Several people looked uncomfortable at the mention of a sacrifice, even an animal one. It was very, very dark magic but he assured them that it was the caster, not his links whose soul bore the damage.

It was a sign of how much they'd begun to trust him that nobody protested as he went on to describe how he would be using the current power stockpile in the wards to make the seal and then he reached the crucial part. It was vitally important that everyone monitor their own remaining energy and cut the link when they could no longer continue, otherwise they risked being drained completely.

A sense of anticipation filled the air as he finished and everyone moved to take their positions. If they succeeded today it would be one of the greatest single magical acts in modern history.

Grindelwald stepped up to the altar, Hermione coming up behind him and placing her hand on his shoulder. She felt her four links take the step behind her, four hands touching her back. She reached for her magic and used the sensation of touch to guide it towards those she linked to. Grindelwald was the easiest to find, his dark magic clashing and roaring like thunder beneath her hand. Harry was next, his magic warm and solid behind her, then McGonagall whose magic swirled and slithered in silvery tendrils. Flitwick by contrast was a flame, errant and excitable flickers reaching towards her. Lupin was the hardest to find, despite his touch. He seemed almost vague and misty, an abstract impression rather than a concentrated ball. She got vague impressions of the others linking up down the line, suddenly feeling like her head was very busy.

She opened her eyes to see Grindelwald waiting, his wand resting under his hand on the altar and a cruel black knife twirling in the other. He spun the knife one way, fingers nimbly twirling around the blade, then it froze with black and red gems glittering in the blue lights, before spinning back the other way. He continued this fidgeting as they waited for the final connections to be made.

He must have been keeping a closer watch than Hermione on who was linked, because he was already lifting his wand when McGonagall finally announced that her last student was ready.

Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated on Grindelwald's magic as he seemed to throw his essence downwards, reaching out for something below them. She could faintly hear him chanting but she felt like her body was miles away as she was dragged downwards with him. Slowly, she became aware of what looked like a glowing strand of silk passing from her left to her right. Even as she watched, she became more aware of it, the strand almost seeming to grow the longer that she focused on it. After several seconds, she noticed a second line, this one much fainter, crossing the first at just less than a right angle.

She heard gasps from those joined to her as the strand grew to fill her awareness, roaring louder in her head than the sounds in the real world. The second stream seemed to merge with the larger one, then split off again on the other side, and Hermione followed Grindelwald as he lead them to the join. She felt when he killed the animal, their connection wavering slightly as he jerked his body. She felt the damage to his soul as inky crevasses shot through his essence, then suddenly bright, pure energy flooded him and knew it was the power of the owl's sacrifice.

Grindelwald didn't waste a moment, the new energy had barely registered in Hermione's mind before he'd launched it at the glowing lines. There was a blinding flash as the magical forces collided, then pure energy roared through her from Grindelwald.

It was agony and joy, pleasure and fear all at once, it scorched through her body, burning her inside even as it healed her. It was a never ending force, humming and vibrating with power, neither dark nor light but just the purest rendition of magic. The fraction of a second before the four linked to her absorbed some of the rush was almost unbearable and it was all that she could do to maintain her grip on Grindelwald's magic.

The drop in the strength of the flow left her feeling cold and empty as it was diffused through the crowd, even though she knew what she was channelling now was more than she'd ever be likely to touch again. With her awareness regained, she felt for the link between her and the old wards and severed the connection. Gellert seized the loose end and held it, linking and modifying the enchantments as they'd decided the evening before.

Then, for want of a better word, he plugged it in to the torrent of the ley line. The wards were like strands of spider silk, curling away from the power of the larger magical force and she felt Grindelwald drawing power from an inky reservoir. She felt queasy as he drew that polluted magic down and used it to twine the wards and the ley line together. Then without delay, as if afraid the two would jump apart again, he began patching up the ley line. She remembered with a jolt to draw on those around her as her own energy was drained; the sudden rush of backup power was freely offered.

Grindelwald got the tear patched up quickly, which reduced the energy escaping and dissipating through them all which made everything significantly easier. The first people began to cut themselves off as they ran too low on energy, then there came the first substantial drop as McGonagall cut herself off. Flitwick followed close behind and the draw on her own essence became more intense. Gellert hadn't even reached half way as he repaired the ley line with its new addition.

They remaining links lasted a little while longer before Lupin cut himself off, then Harry had to leave as well when the strain became too much for him. Then Hermione opened her own energy well, feeling Grindelwald doing the same with his own formidable strength. He twined their magic together, layering the contrasting strands across the remaining space as she was forced to draw deeper and deeper.

Hermione fell to her knees and Grindelwald laid the final strand, too exhausted to hold herself up anymore. She opened her eyes and stared, amazed at the changes in the room. Pinkish-gold light blazed from the runes in the floor, reflecting their pattern against a ceiling that had never been visible before. The blue flames around the walls seemed dim, despite burning higher than it every had before. A tired cheer went up as Grindelwald finally stepped away from the alter and with only slightly more elegance than Hermione, took a seat on the steps.

She surveyed the residents proudly, all of whom bore identical expressions of weary pride. They had, after all, just made their home one of the safest, if not the safest place in the world.


	39. Chapter 39

**Sorry for the delay. I was sick, then I had to catch up on the work that I missed because I was sick!**

 **Another chapter added to the one-shots too.**

It was almost a relief when Narcissa rushed in from usual morning tea on the balcony to warn them that the ICW were arriving. The week after they had finished the wards had been spent with the entire order on tenterhooks, nobody knowing when they might find themselves at war again.

For Hermione, the worry was that their very experimental wards wouldn't hold.

They had prepared for this exact moment. Hermione sent out a message using the new protean coins warning everyone to either leave or return immediately. Grindelwald double checked the warding and Neville's patronus arrived five minutes later to let them know all the doors were shut.

Hermione stood with Gellert on the balcony, watching as a group of purple robed wizards cautiously climbed up from the forest. They sent out a red spell occasionally, testing for the wards. It was a tense moment as they neared the wards and the first spell hit the ward.

The result was cataclysmic.

Silvery light spider webbed across the shield from the point of impact, rising almost vertically upwards before being lost in the glare of the sun. The thunder followed just as the afterimage was fading, shaking the stone beneath them and sending a couple of small stones slithering down the mountainside.

Once the boundary had been established, more purple robed figures appeared and began setting up a perimeter. Hermione's hands slowly relaxed on the railing as the wards successfully deflected spell after spell.

Over the next hour, the invading wizards quickly established the massive line of the wards. Even the warded boundary of Malfoy Manor was smaller. She almost wished she was in amongst the ICW to hear their reactions to such a large ward.

'They will attempt an attack sooner than they would have if the wards were smaller.' Grindelwald pondered, watching through a pair of complicated binoculars as purple tents were magically erected. He flicked a set of filters down over the lens and started sweeping their surroundings again, looking up into the sky and down at the ground beneath them and twiddling one of the silver knobs on the side.

'They've put up their own muggle repelling charm and an anti-apparition ward over us. There's something else but it's hard to see behind ours; a caterwauling I think.' He decided, passing the binoculars over to Hermione.

She looked through them, then looked back without them, then looked again.

A thick purple film blanketed everything making the shapes of their surroundings difficult to make out. Experimentally she twiddled the knob and noticed a little gauge in the corner dial up. A bright flash of pink almost blinded her, then a lattice of gold before it settled on purple again as she stopped twiddling the knob.

She twiddled it in reverse, stopping on the gold lattice and fiddling with minute movements until each glowing golden strand was visible. It stretched like a net across the valley, down past the woods and up to the snowline above them. She twiddled it again, focusing this time on the blinding white-pink which she recognised quickly as their own warding, the colour identical to that which had lit the runes. She took a moment to marvel at the sheer footprint, realising that the ward burrowed underneath the foundations in a shape almost like an egg.

She had no idea how Grindelwald had managed to identify the caterwauling charm, so she just handed the binoculars back to him and resolved to ask when there was less of an audience.

'A caterwauling charm doesn't make sense if they plan to attack us.' Draco muttered into the silence, Gellert sent him a glare that clearly said he was being foolish.

'They're not attacking, they're holding us here. You don't set up tents to attack.' He said patronisingly.

'We need them to attack for my plan to work. We need international outrage or we'll be stuck here forever.' Hermione baulked as soon as she'd said that, wondering when she'd become so calculating. Gellert looked over her appraisingly before nodding.

'Send out an owl notifying people that they should practice their bubble head charms before tomorrow lunch. Address one to Fleur Delacour's father; he works in the French ministry if I'm not mistaken. Send another to Kingsley at work and every other ministry employee that was our ally.' He ordered decisively and Narcissa nodded, managing to look dignified even as she hurried inside to write the letters.

'Mr. Malfoy, I believe you are adept at potions?' He demanded and Draco nodded quickly, looking as though he'd rather fade into the stone behind him than talk to Gellert. 'Make us a Cough Potion, but stir anti-clockwise after adding the honey.'

'But Sir, stirring anti-clockwise after adding honey; you'll make clouds of noxious gas.' The Slytherin protested and Grindelwald quirked his mouth.

'That's genius Gellert!' Hermione exclaimed as she finally connected the dots in his plan. She ignored Grindelwald's smug expression. 'Find Seamus and take him with you. I'll conjure some birds.'

Six hours later, Hermione held cardboard box of dead birds. Seamus had managed to blow up the first three attempts at the potion, creating several ominously disfigured specimens and a couple that had been charred beyond recognition. The only successful attempt had created the predicted noxious fumes and had killed the birds in seconds. She was grateful at least that the conjured birds weren't actually alive so they hadn't had to sacrifice such innocent little creatures for such a minor role.

Neville waited at the doors as they slipped through the tiny opening, only just wide enough to fit the box through. The moon threw everything into sharp relief, gilding the damp grass in silver and creating ominous pools of shadow behind the bare boulders. Neville had offered earlier in the week to fortify the gardens, a notion that Grindelwald had found laughable at the time but now proved to be a stroke of effective brilliance.

In the light of their wands, it was almost impossible to watch for roots on the ground and check Neville's map of booby traps at the same time. Courtesy of some potions brewed by Slughorn and the children, the plants had gone haywire sending crawlers and roots across the path. Boulders and shale were now strewn across the hillside and one had to climb over and around them. He'd placed jinxes on the rough hewn stairs and laced the wildflowers with potions, there was a boggart in the gap beneath a slab of rock and Kappas in the little stream, not to mention the ascent itself would be enough to tire most potential attackers. All the while, spells and potions could be raining down from what she now realised was actually a very strategic balcony.

Gellert's appreciative sounds were enough for Hermione to grip the map a little tighter as they scrambled down an almost vertical slab of rock on the "safe path". It was very abstract; left out the door, up the hill after the first boulder and hang another right, follow the stream for a bit but stop before the shale slope.

Safe to say, she was dreading having to climb back up again but this mission needed both her and Grindelwald.

They stopped in front of the wards, pausing to collect themselves before beginning a loud conversation about how the students were so terrible at potions that they'd never have enough made by tomorrow.

Grindelwald had been right about the caterwauling charm, it blared deafeningly as they stepped across the invisible line and Hermione and Gellert froze facing two startled looking ICW wizards. She quickly dumped the box, then scrambled as if she'd just dropped it, shouting out to Gellert about how they'd reveal their recipe even as he dragged her back behind the shelter of the wards.

They watched in satisfaction as the two shocked wizards finally approached the box and after some discussion took it to their superiors.


	40. Chapter 40

The attack inevitably came, which was only expected when one considered Gellert's failed poison gas attack on the Greek Ministry of Magic in 1938. Of course, it had only been foiled because one of Scamander's Nifflers had managed to recover a shiny vial so that the correct cure could be administered in time. With the owls that had almost certainly been intercepted and the disposed of bird carcasses it was easy to draw the conclusion that they were planning to launch a widespread attack on an international level.

Of course, to the international public, they had just been teaching their resident orphans how to make a cough potion. Any potions teacher could attest to the accidents that frequently occurred in potions classes.

The assault was relentless, thunderclaps rolling across the valley and reflecting off the rocky cliffs to echo ominously back at them. Light refracted off the ward day and night creating entrancing light shows and casting strange reflections through the windows in their rooms. The ward held up spectacularly, although the number of silencing charms cast overnight made it very difficult to rouse anyone for breakfast.

Of course, Hermione ensured that the assault reached international news within the day and her pet reporters worked wonders in portraying a sanctuary of children and homeless heroes under an unjustified assault. The ICW gave a statement about how they had proof that Grindelwald had planned an attack and a weepy Colin Creevey gave an interview about how he'd never expected his remedial potions lesson to have such an effect.

Life quickly fell into monotony after that, Hermione discovered that she actually had a talent for wizard's chess now that war had numbed her to what had one seemed like repellent violence. After all; a game with such minor consequences was the perfect place to hone her mind. The curriculum that she had been revising in preparation for her OWLS seemed like a bit of a joke after the work that she'd accomplished in the last month of the war and in the preparation for the wards and for the first time she felt wholly prepared.

She'd occupied herself instead with reading through the remainder of Slytherin's notes. She abbreviated them, translating the relevant information into modern English to add to the already impressive collection in the castle. It ranged from simple enchantments to perform mundane tasks to things that required the sacrifice of a virgin. There were early versions on spells Hermione was familiar with and others that had become lost to time.

It was in among all this that she found an account of how Salazar had discovered that patronus charms could keep away nightmares. Of course, the significance of that simple sentence eluded her completely until later that evening as she lay in bed watching the bombardment of spells explode like fireworks across the ward.

If Slytherin could cast a patronus – and he most certainly classified as a dark wizard, so could Gellert. Which implied that there was some unknown variable other than a simple history of dark magic that inhibited the patronus charm, which of course made sense now that she thought about it because she'd personally witnessed Delores Umbridge cast a patronus and she was also bordering on a dark witch.

She was up and out of her room before she could even think it through fully, grabbing the half read journal and tearing through her door and across the corridor. The dark wizard whipped up from his chair as she threw the door open.

'You can cast a patronus!' She exclaimed excitedly, brandishing the journal that she'd grabbed from her bedside on the way out.

Gellert just stared at her with a gobsmacked expression, his wand still pointed loosely in her direction. She waited expectantly for him to react with equal enthusiasm, then frowned when his expression didn't even register what she'd just said.

He shifted uncomfortably and she suddenly became very aware of how little she was wearing. Harry's (Dudley's) old shirt hung to barely mid thigh, which would have made any one of her school mates feel awkward. Gellert had grown up when women didn't even show their ankles.

'Sorry, I didn't think.' She apologised quickly as the wizard finally managed to get over his shock enough to avert his eyes and summon the quilt from his bed. Hermione wrapped it around herself awkwardly and turned the top down to hold it in place.

'What did you want? It's very late.' Gellert asked when she was more presentable.

'Salazar Slytherin could cast a patronus, so you must be able to as well.' She explained, flicking through the journal to find the right page. Grindelwald still looked sceptical. 'What if it's not something about the wizard? What if it's something about the process of casting it?'

Gellert still looked unconvinced, an expression which didn't change as she chattered about intent and manifestations. She led him down to the duelling room, and his expression finally turned to fear as they passed all three libraries.

He stopped, forcing her to a halt in the middle of the darkened corridor.

'I'd rather not.' He said, tugging his arm away from her grip.

'It's a very useful spell.' Hermione insisted. 'I'll be there in case something goes wrong.' She tried to reassure, finding his eyes in the darkness. He hesitated for a moment more, then seemed to brace himself and strode briskly past her into the duelling room.

Hermione joined him, lighting the torches that he'd ignored. Not for the first time she wondered if he'd done something to enhance his night vision. She got him to perform the preparation for the spell – the wand movement, the incantation and the stance. As expected, his technique was flawless and there was no variation from her own, which left three remaining variables; his intent, his memory and the popular belief that his soul was causing the problem.

'What is your memory?' She asked, knowing that it was a very personal question. Fortunately, it seemed Gellert was at least reluctantly going to work with her and he described the moment that he'd come into possession of the elder wand.

Hermione immediately ran through those whose memories she knew. Ron had once told her that he thought of when he'd become a prefect and Harry thought about winning the Quiddich Cup. She thought of the time that she'd found out that she was a witch. It was easy to correlate the memories; all were achievements, but there was one major difference. All of the trio's memories involved the love of their friends in the moment, Hermione's parents had been so proud to discover that she was a witch, Ron's mother had finally recognised his achievements and Harry had been surrounded by friends after helping them achieve victory for the first time in years.

Gellert's memory was devoid of love. It was an achievement that had gained him power but little else.

She said as much, knowing that the dark wizard wouldn't take offence. He was nothing if not self aware.

For the first time, genuine interest appeared in his expression. He was silent for several moments, obviously pondering what she'd said.

'Have you got a memory that might work? It needs to be all positive emotions.' She asked, dreading that his answer might be no. He'd spent most of his life in an isolated prison cell after all. He seemed to think for several minutes; then a smile flickered across his face. She took it as confirmation when he pulled the elder wand from his pocket.

She readied her own wand, more for his comfort than her own as he prepared to cast the only spell that had ever foiled him.

'Expecto Patronum.' he bellowed; the only time she'd heard him verbally cast a spell. He swept his wand through the air and silver mist billowed from the end. He didn't even pause for the mist to vanish before he was casting again, more mist settling on the floor of the room. It took her several attempts to get his attention, by which time the entire duelling room was cloudy with silvery fog. She marvelled briefly at his sheer power, still firm in the belief that he and Dumbledore were in a class of their own.

'You need a different memory; that one isn't powerful enough.' Hermione told him and he frowned, clearly scouring his brain for another memory. It was almost sad to watch; it had taken her weeks to find the right memory but it hadn't been for lack of them. She'd actually had so many happy memories that she couldn't work out which was happiest.

'Expecto Patronum.' He said it quietly this time and more mist poured out of his wand, then began to form into an indistinct shape. It was something with wings for certain, on the larger side but not as large as a thunderbird, possibly one of the big birds of prey. The mist swirled indistinctly for a couple of seconds, then convalesced into an owl.

The silvery owl swooped around them, Gellert watched in blatant awe as it circled on invisible currents, brushing his shoulders with its ghostly wing tips. The joyous expression on his face was one that Hermione had never seen before and it looked good on him. The smile showed off his white teeth and his eyes shone with a deeper happiness than Dumbledore had ever seemed to achieve with his merry twinkle.

Hermione summoned her own patronus with a flick of her wand and a silvery raven joined the dance. She faltered suddenly, the silvery animal fading into nothing. She cast again to make sure but the raven remained. She felt sick, had she really become so twisted that a carrion bird had become the animal representation of her inner self?

Gellert seemed to notice her distress, because his silvery owl faded and his expression of joy faded.

'What's wrong?' He asked quietly, moving over to her.

'My patronus has changed.' She told him dully, feeling terrible for ruining what was such a good moment for him. 'To a raven; a carrion bird that feasts off the death and suffering of others.'

'A raven?' He pondered after much consideration. 'True, it is a carrion bird but they also clean up after the conflicts of men. They are the messengers of the Gods, in Ancient Greek and Norse and were protective warriors to the celts. They are intelligent, curious and adaptive. I would say that is an excellent patronus.'

Hermione sat in silence for several minutes, then flicked her wand and watched the raven soar into the air, where Gellert's owl soon joined it.

'You're right. I just miss the otter.'


	41. Chapter 41

Hermione woke with a jump when Gellert touched her shoulder. Immediately adrenaline flooded through her, sharpening her senses. It was dark, darker than it had been in weeks. The dark wizard crossed the room on silent feet and threw open the curtains, as if to emphasise what she had already realised herself.

She got up, pulling a silken gown over her nightdress and joining him at the window to peer out over the valley.

The assault on the wards had stopped and they could finally see past the protective dome to the ICW camp. Purple tents had been decorated with flags and banners, representing individual countries' auror contingents and several quiddich teams. Witches and wizards milled around in the spaces between the tents even as a small contingent made their way up the mountain towards the entrance. The leading figure carried a white flag ahead of them, illuminated by the light of somebody's wand.

'Do we go and talk to them?' Hermione asked the more experienced wizard beside her.

'I would advise it. Your publicity plan would fall apart if we refused an offer of peace.'

'How should we do it?' The propaganda campaign had been her idea but she was happy to fall on Gellert's greater political acumen when it came to situations like these.

'We need a formal representation; I assume you want to portray this as a democracy. The leader of each group in the castle as well as you and I, call the press if you want, it will force them to behave.' He decided, sending his patronus to rouse Lupin and Harry. Hermione quickly followed suit, waking Neville, McGonagall and the two Malfoys.

'Wear something formal.' He advised as she opened her wardrobe before he hurried out of the room.

Ten minutes later, she was dressed in elegant maroon robes with a phoenix embroidered on the skirts. Her hair was in an immaculate bun held with copious amounts of elf magic and she was wearing an impressive pair of dragon hide boots with a delightful charm that made the heel seem almost nonexistent as she walked.

She met Narcissa in the corridor and the older witch looked over her approvingly before transfiguring the pin in her own hair from a flower to a phoenix.

The boys were already waiting for them in the living area, Harry looking like he'd just drunk a wideye potion and Draco looking as suave as always in a three piece suit. Grindelwald had defied his norm with a jacket that fastened with at his shoulder and a cloak pinned and thrown open so that his wand arm was free. Harry shrugged on a cloak as they headed down stairs, meeting up with the others along the way. Everyone was dressed to the nines, and with Narcissa's help, soon sported a subtle phoenix emblem.

The ICW were already waiting by the time they reached the edge of the wards and so was the press. The cameras outnumbered the ICW by at least double, but every one of them kept a respectful distance. They paused as a group at the boundary and Hermione forced herself to take several deep breaths to calm her nerves.

Gellert drew his wand and cast a witchlight so bright that it was almost equivalent to sunlight and sent it soaring out over the press and the ICW. All activity ceased, those on the other side waiting tensely.

Then Hermione and Gellert stepped out. Cameras flashed with an almost deafening round of clicks but strangely no questions were shouted. Silence fell as the duo approached the delegation from the ICW. They paused when they were within speaking distance and the rest of the Nurmengard team emerged and fanned out behind them. Cameras rattled again and Hermione used the time to look over the delegates.

Without exception the politicians all looked worn; lines of stress and dark bags under their eyes. The uniform robes were subtly rumpled, the shirts un-ironed and hair un-washed. The auror team that flanked them looked barely alert, wands drooped occasionally and one woman looked ready to fall asleep on her feet.

'Erlaucht Grindelwald, Miss Granger...' The wizard speaking hesitated as if unsure how to address the rest of the assembly, 'honourable representatives of Nurmengard. I am Babajide Akingbade, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.'

Hermione nodded to each member as the Supreme Mugwump introduced them, memorising every name and face.

'We have come on the behalf of the international wizarding community to discuss...' Akingbade's eyes flashed quickly to the waiting press and he seemed to quickly modify what he had been about to say, 'an end to this unfortunate misunderstanding.'

'A misunderstanding?' Hermione questioned breezily and the politicians shuffled nervously. 'I'm not quite sure what you are referring to; your failure to act when the legal government of Britain was overthrown perhaps? Or maybe when you attempted to arrest the one who saved us on land outside your jurisdiction? Perhaps how you imprisoned him in an inhumane cell without a trial and put his safety at risk when he was kidnapped and used for malicious purposes? Or was it the one where you launched an attack on a home for war orphans? I do hope you could clarify for us.'

Quills scratched as reporters hastily copied down her words. The delegates now looked like a herd of deer in the headlights, the Supreme Mugwump gave a resigned sigh and unrolled a scroll for his robes.

'In light of recent events, the International Confederation of Wizards has moved to accept the plea of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the pardon of Erlaucht Gellert Graf Grindelwald for numerous crimes against the International Statute of Secrecy and against International Wizarding Law. The International Confederation of Wizards has agreed despite the severity of his crimes, recent actions and time already served in custody must be taken into account and have voted to pardon Erlaucht Grindelwald of all crimes.'

For a moment, there was silence, then an almighty cheer thundered across the valley and it seemed everyone in Nurmengard had been waiting in silence beyond the ward boundaries. They flooded over the line and into sight as Gellert's political facade crumbled and he swept Hermione into the air, spinning them in a circle and laughing joyously. She found herself laughing too, amazed that her plan had worked and that Gellert was a free man for the first time in almost a century.

'Three cheers for The Phoenix!' Someone bellowed from the back of the crowd and the raucous reply rang out, almost deafening her with its volume as Gellert placed her back on her feet and placed a kiss on her lips.

It was nothing special, quick and light, hardly more than a quick brush of skin but it sent tingles through Hermione that somehow managed to make the moment even more perfect than it already was. Their eyes met and Hermione reached up on her toes to place another one on his lips in reply. This one was fractionally longer, she could feel the softness of his lips against hers this time, the slight brush of his moustache and then she pulled away again, smiling shyly up at him as cheers rocked the valley.


	42. Chapter 42

" _Three cheers for The Pheonix!_ " the caption read, but it was the image underneath that had trapped Hermione's attention over the breakfast table the next morning. She was laughing as Gellert twirled her around in the air, then he placed her down and they shared their kiss. The little details were etched into her mind by now, the way her eyes flickered closed as their lips touched and the moon threw long shadows of her eyelashes across her cheeks. How the silver bird on the back of Gellert's cloak seemed to fly as he moved and the way her hands had balled into the material of his sleeves.

She sighed and turned the paper over as Gellert appeared through the doorway. It suddenly felt very awkward as he sat in his usual seat opposite her and she focused intensely on her croissant as he observed her.

'Gellert, last night... I shouldn't have...' She began, but he interrupted before she could finish.

'I apologise sincerely. It was remiss of me to make such a move without entering a formal courtship. I have stained your honour after all you have done for me.' He sounded truly regretful and she finally looked up at him.

'A formal what? No, Gellert, it doesn't work like that anymore. I just thought you were gay!' She exclaimed and the dark wizard suddenly looked mortified.

'I am not a poof.' He said indignantly and somewhat defensively.

'It's not a bad thing to be gay anymore Gellert, if you feel that way it's okay to admit it. Some people just aren't interested in the opposite sex.'

'Where on earth would you get that idea?' He hissed, casting a privacy charm on the door.

'It's just basic human kindness, to be tolerant of people with different views.' She hissed back, outraged on the behalf of every homosexual.

'No! That _I_ was interested in men.' He coughed, stumbling over the last few words, raising his hands in a pacifying gesture. Hermione paused in her indignant rage as she took that in.

'Oh... Er, Dumbledore said that he had romantic feelings for you.' She finally explained, then remembered she had actually read that in Rita Skeeter's book. She considered telling him that but decided against it in the end. He had only just been pardoned for his crimes after all.

'Albus?' Gellert asked incredulously, then he seemed to run over several events in his mind, connecting clues and realising that Hermione was right. 'Oh. I never realised. I have never had the best understanding of love.' He admitted awkwardly and Hermione sighed.

'So you're not gay?' She asked, squashing the excitement this realisation was having.

'No, not at all.' Gellert confirmed and they both relaxed back into their chairs to continue with breakfast.

They were out on the balcony afterwards, enjoying the light of the morning sun as they watched the ICW waking up in their camp. The wards seemed to have gone dormant overnight because the aurors were casually strolling across the lower reaches of the grounds. She could still feel them though, buzzing in the corner of her awareness as mistress of the house.

She watched as one auror fell afoul of a patch of Neville's devil's snare and had to be rescued by his fellows. The small squad seemed to take it in good humour though, as even from here she could hear laughter rolling up the hillside. Closer to the castle, Neville and a group of students were already working on dismantling his garden defence system – an unknown magical creature started shrieking loudly as it was pulled from the stream and forced into whatever container Lupin had deemed suitable.

Gellert stood beside her, dressed casually with his shirt untucked and sleeves unbuttoned. His blue eye sparkled in the pale light and his darker one seemed to shine with contentment. He fixed his gaze on Hermione as she observed him, taking in the blue robe that she wore over her muggle jeans.

Then he suddenly told her to wait and disappeared inside. Curious, she watched the doors as he disappeared through them, her focus soon shifting back to the aurors in the garden below. They seemed to have noticed what Neville's students were doing and had teamed up with them to defeat a boggart.

'Hermione?' Gellert said from the doorway and she turned around to look up at him. He looked more nervous than she had ever seen him, even before he had cast his first patronus. 'You are a brilliant, talented and beautiful witch. I know that I am not a good wizard by any measure but you bring out the best in me. I know you don't have formal courtships any more but I wouldn't feel right doing it any other way.'

He held out the box that he had been holding and opened it so that she could see the delicate silver bracelet nestled inside. She was too fixated on his face for more than a passing glance towards the jewellery and she laid her hands over his around the box.

'I would offer you my courtship, that we may become acquainted with each other.' He spoke the words formally, and Hermione tried to keep the huge smile off her face.

'What do I say?' She mumbled awkwardly,

'Just say yes, Maüschen.' He whispered.

'Yes.' She uttered and he wrapped her into a hug. The kiss they shared this time was far longer and more intimate than the ones of the evening before. She could taste the coffee he'd just drunk and feel the warmth of his lips. Her hands came up behind his head to bury in his spiky-soft hair and his wrapped around her waist, pulling her body into him.

'Thank you, Hermione.' He murmured when they pulled apart.

He opened the box again and carefully removed the bracelet from inside. It was exquisitely shaped silver; two ribbons of metal studded with tiny diamonds and joined by a length of delicate chain. The clasp was somehow worked into the sapphire that twinkled between the two twinkling strands. She was almost too terrified to wear it even as he fastened it around her wrist.

'It was my Grandmother's, if you press the sapphire up against a wall, you'll be able to hear through it even if there are privacy charms in place. She was an avid gossiper but it could definitely be put to more political uses.' He told her gently as he concentrated on doing up the clasp without catching her skin.

'It's beautiful, Gellert. Thank you.'


	43. Chapter 43

'I hate international portkeys.' Grindelwald complained as the lift doors opened in front of them with a pleasant chime.

'You're the one who organised this.' Hermione reminded him as they entered, pressing the button for level six. At the last minute a family barrelled in, two children dragged behind their rushed parents as they scrambled to catch the lift.

'Sixth floor, excellent!' The father huffed as they caught their breath. His garish, Hawaiian patterned robes clashed spectacularly with the light, floral summer dress his wife wore.

'I do hope we haven't missed it.' The woman fretted as she double checked the paperwork in her purse. She looked down at her young son with a great measure of irritation as he tugged on her dress again. 'What is it Ben?'

'Mum, look who it is.' The boy pointed wildly in their direction and the woman followed his finger, seemingly noticing them for the first time.

'Merlin, is that Hermione Granger and Grindelwald?' The older of the two young boys whispered and the father quickly turned his two children away to stop them gawking, his face going red with embarrassment.

'Sorry about that.' He apologised as the lift changed direction sharply, rocketing diagonally past the second floor. 'Thank you, of course, for saving us.'

Hermione went pink and Gellert managed to say something smooth and winning which completely passed over Hermione's head as she suddenly found the new travel documents that Gellert had been issued very interesting.

She was relieved when a cool voice announced that they were at the department of magical transportation and she could hurry out. Gellert followed close behind her as she followed the blue and white signs to "departures".

They were ushered to the head of the queue, skipping past the disgruntled rows of other passengers and through customs. The formalities were barely observed and the official that took down their details seemed more interested in their social lives than the authenticity of the paperwork. With no delay they were ushered into their booth and given a five minute warning for the departure of their portkey. A cool female voice began the countdown and they both placed a finger on the smooth black stone that sat on a table in the middle of the room. Hermione adjusted her grip on her beaded bag as the countdown reached two.

The tug behind her navel was agonising, almost as if she'd swallowed a fishing hook and was being reeled in. The air was squeezed out of her and she almost blacked out as she was spun around so fast all the blood rushed to her feet. Then she connected with something soft and the movement stopped. The air rushed back into her lungs and she rolled over to gasp it in. Someone sat her up, and suddenly a bucket had been conveniently provided as she emptied her stomach.

'There you go Ma'am, I'll just help you up now, we're expecting a big group through any minute.' The witch who'd provided the bucket informed her, helping her stand and make her way off the blue mattress they'd landed on. Gellert was already waiting, looking very pale but otherwise healthy as he handed their paperwork to a tanned man in a smart blue uniform.

He gave her his one sided smile as she wobbled over to him and she subtly leant against the wall as the officer checked the documentation.

'Name and purpose of visit?' The man drawled as he entered a document number into a large ledger.

'Gellert Grindelwald and Hermione Granger, we're here to find her parents.' Gellert answered for her and the man looked up with sudden interest.

'Grindelwald and Hermione Granger?' He peered at them closely. 'I'm glad they let you go, it's not right what the ICW did to you. I'm Geoff Baiter, if you need anything whilst you're here, just send me an owl.'

Geoff smiled at them genuinely as he stamped one of the documents and handed the stack back to them. He waved them off with a friendly smile as a large family arrived with a sound like a gunshot and several cries of pain.

They were let out of the arrivals room and directed the ferry that would take them off the island that served as the Australian Ministry of Magic. They wandered leisurely along the sand-dusted path that meandered between the different department buildings. One wizard that passed them by was complaining to another about how the coconut tree outside his department had started dropping fruit. A witch emerged onto the veranda of the department of law enforcement and shed her robes, wandering down to the water in a bikini. Two wizards banged through the door after her, hollering for her attention and jostling one another out of the way.

Right beside the ferry seemed to be a restaurant of some sort, overlooking the beach. A whole crowd of witches and wizards sat enjoying the evening with cold glasses of beer and watching some water based game that seemed to involve riding a giant seahorse-dragon animal for as long as possible.

The ferry rang a bell and lines untwined from the pier like snakes, coiling themselves neatly on the decks as a large sail was hoisted up the mast. With a sound like old parchment, a second sail unrolled at the front and the bow peeled away from the dock. They picked up speed quickly, the sleek vessel cutting through the azure water with barely a sound.

'Where to?' The skipper asked from his spot at the massive circular wheel. He seemed to be the only crew member on board, despite the huge size of the vessel.

'Melbourne please.' Hermione answered, just as they plunged into thick grey mist. It swept across the deck, startlingly cold after the ambient heat of the island. A wind howled through the rigging, the skipper hauled on one of the ropes and the boat leaned over. Hermione squeaked and quickly sat down on one of the benches near the back, bracing herself against a convenient footrest as the wind continued to build.

Then as quickly as it had come the wind died, the boat flattened again and the mist cleared. They were sailing past a massive green container ship up a wide river mouth. A marina passed on the left and a row of massive white cranes on the right, over the industrial shipyard, she could see the many skyscrapers of Melbourne glinting in the sunlight. Gellert opened his briefcase and reached inside, eventually pulling out the slip of paper that held her parent's address.

'Have you been here before?' asked the Captain, seeing the map drawn underneath the address.

'A long time ago; the city had changed a lot. Is the entrance to the wizarding city still in the church?' He asked and the skipper looked baffled for a moment.

'Not since 1960! You need to ask for room nine at the main reception in the crown hotel.'

'Thank you. I'm older than I look.' Gellert explained and the skipper nodded, concentrating as the sails furled themselves neatly and he slipped the boat alongside the jetty so that they could disembark. It was a tricky climb, especially because the mist had left a fine residue of water over the decks that made them slippery. She had to hang onto the wires that held the mast up for dear life as she clambered over the railings.

The dark wizard helped her down before climbing agilely over himself and jumping onto the dock. The lady at the muggle marina reception was kind enough to direct them onto the right tram and soon they were rattling their way to St Kilda.

Gellert used a subtle location charm behind one of the chairs to tell them when to get off, disembarking at the roadside after only a few stops. Across from them was a small park, a woodchip and sand path winding across the grass and between flowerbeds.

The short walk seemed to take both hours and seconds, knowing that her parents were living just across the street. Gellert led her up to number 34, opening the white picket fence without hesitation. Hermione froze half way up the pebble path.

'What if this doesn't work Gellert?' She asked nervously, terror coursing through her. Of course she'd trusted Gellert completely when he'd told her to brew the Mnemosyne Mixture; it was after all named after the goddess of memories. Of course, she could have brewed it wrong, or somehow messed up the original spell.

'It will.' He said shortly and she smiled uncertainly. He seemed uncertain was to do for several seconds, then finally held out his hand for her to take. It was a sweet gesture, so she took it and allowed him to lead her up to the white painted doorway. He allowed her to press the door bell when she was ready, then allowed her to take up the centre of the doorway, his reassuring warmth behind her.

She heard her mother's confused voice call out to her father, who hollered back from upstairs. Then someone hurried down the stairs with loud feet and the door opened. Her father looked through the security screen at them. Vague recollection flickered across this face, but he otherwise just stood and waited for an introduction.

'Hi. Erm, I'm Hermione G... er, Hermione, and this is Gellert.' She stumbled, looking to the older wizard for support.

'Good afternoon, Er Hermione and Gellert. What can we do for you?' Her father asked and Hermione felt a slight blush tinge her cheeks as her father cracked the familiar joke at her expense.

'We're new to the neighbourhood, we just moved in down the road and wanted to meet everyone. You weren't in when we called in at the weekend.' Gellert said smoothly.

'Oh, nice to meet you then! We're pretty new here too, why don't you come in and Jean will make us all a cuppa. Where are you both from then, you don't sound Australian.' Richard asked as he unlocked the screen and led them into the little house. White painted walls and light pine floors bore a striking resemblance to their old home, family photos were displayed around the mirror. Hermione was painfully absent in all of them but the space where she once stood was still there.

'You have a beautiful home.' Gellert complimented smoothly. 'and you must be the beautiful Jean.' He kissed her mother's hand smoothly as they arrived in the brightly lit kitchen area. Jean giggled and turned to the kettle to make tea.

'So where are you from then?' Her father prompted and Hermione managed to find her voice enough to answer the question that had been obviously directed at her.

'I'm from England. Gellert is originally from Germany but he's been abroad for a while now.' She managed to answer, surprised by how difficult it was to speak with him as if they were strangers. Gellert meanwhile was barely managing to keep his eyes off the toaster as Jean sliced up hot cross buns and heated them.

'We're from England too, left just before all that nasty business with the terrorist attacks began.' Her father said as he cleaned the opened patient files off the table and stacked them neatly next to the TV. Hermione took a seat whilst Gellert offered to help carry the teas to the table. She almost missed the flash of green as he poured the potion into two of the cups, disguised by the simple motion of adjusting their position on the tray.

He placed the cups in front of the two Grangers, taking the two unspiked drinks for them. He sat reassuringly next to her, guiding the conversation to the Granger's lives in England. They recounted painfully familiar stories, twisted slightly to remove her from the events.

'Actually, come to think of it Jean, there was someone else there.' Richard finally said as he had been recounting a holiday in France where they'd visited the Louvre.

'I think you might be right, were we babysitting for someone?' Jean murmured, her eyes becoming unfocused as she concentrated on the memory.

'Mr Granger, Mrs Granger. I think we should tell you the real reason that we are here.' Gellert finally began, and Hermione's lip trembled. 'You might be beginning to remember but there is a parallel world to your own, one of magic.'

It was a credit to their returning memories that the two Grangers took this without protest.

'You're right, I remember now. We had a daughter. Richard, we had a daughter!' Jean realised, tears filling her eyes. 'What happened to her? What happened to our lovely daughter? Oh Richard, there was a war, I remember now; there was a war and our Hermione was part of it. Do you know what happened to her?' Jean asked, turning to Gellert and Hermione desperately.

'Mum, Dad. I'm your daughter.' Hermione finally managed to whisper, tears of happiness falling down her cheeks.


	44. Chapter 44

It had been a long afternoon, full of emotions as Hermione tried to explain to her parents everything that had happened. It had been difficult, because she wanted to save them the worst details and she had wanted desperately for her parents to approve of her relationship with Gellert. She knew that for him in particular it was vital that her parents approve.

It was the first time she'd really told them anything of what had happened since her third year, when she'd discovered it was easier to just keep them in the dark. They'd threatened to withdraw her from school after Sirius Black had broken in over Halloween, so she'd stopped telling them that anything was wrong. Fortunately Hogwarts didn't seem to see the importance of notifying muggle parents of events, so she could get away with it.

Now, it was truly heart wrenching as they discovered for the first time the danger she had been in and the sacrifices that she'd made. She'd managed to gloss over much of Gellert's past. She'd just mentioned that he was a powerful wizard with a broad knowledge that had helped them with their quest. He'd given her a funny look but allowed her to just brush over the details.

She'd told them about Nurmengard and how Gellert had let them all live there and the position she was soon to take up in the ministry. As it got dark, they took a quick break to get some takeaway, then returned to find Gellert and Richard had taken it upon themselves to break out the board games and a bottle of Whiskey that could only have come from Gellert's collection judging by the date hand written across the faded label.

'Look Jean! Gellert brought an 1870's bottle of whisky! I'm almost afraid to drink it!' her father exclaimed as he poured a tiny amount out for Jean to taste. Grindelwald smiled secretively at Hermione and she shared the sentiment. Gellert had a cellar full of drinks averaging about a century old and Hermione was beginning to suspect that Nurmengard was not his only property. In fact, she had yet to confront him about what she was sure was an honorific German title.

Gellert wandlessly conjured a glass for Hermione and poured her out a tiny portion. He didn't seem to notice her parent's surprise as he corked the bottle and carelessly pushed it into their liquor cabinet with the new, cheaper drinks.

'Hermione tells me you're all fans of skiing?' He asked as he vigorously shook the dice and rolled a pair of twos. He gave a disappointed sigh as his defence of Germany gave way to Richard's advances.

'We are; we used to go on skiing holidays every winter.' Jean said as she took up a position on the board game, dealing out the remaining country cards to herself and Hermione.

'You're welcome to come and visit us at Nurmengard this winter; the mountains would be spectacular for snow sports. The local village is famous for its ice climbing.'

'That would be wonderful! That is, if you have room?' Hermione's mother asked. Hermione gave a light, tinkling laugh that could have been copied from the Narcissa Malfoy handbook.

'Of course we have space. The Malfoys should have moved out by then anyway, so you can stay in the private quarters. It can be quite busy on the lower floors these days, what with the children tearing around at all hours.' Gellert said casually, muttering humorously unsavoury words in German as he was forced to cede another country to her father.

'Children?' Hermione's mother asked sharply, looking between the two of them.

'War orphans, mum. He's talking about the orphans that live on the lower floors until Hogwarts starts up again.' Hermione soothed. Evidently the woman had managed to connect the dots and realised that they were in a relationship.

'Oh, that's very sweet of you to take them in.' Hermione's mum said, melting completely. 'Oh, do you have somewhere to stay for the night?'

Hermione answered no at the same moment Gellert answered yes. They stopped and stared at one another for several long seconds, then Gellert turned to her parents and offered for them to join them at the hotel they would be staying the night at. He promised sincerely that it would be like nothing they had ever seen before.

Both Grangers agreed, somewhat confused by the turn of events and Gellert nodded. He opened his briefcase and buried his head, followed by his arms and torso inside of it, finally emerging to the shocked faces of her parents, triumphantly holding an owl. He used a scrap of paper and a biro (which seemed to puzzle him greatly) to scribble a quick note and sent it off out of the window with his owl before settling back down to their game of Risk.

Half an hour later he was complaining about how there was no possible way a country with the resources of Great Britain could fall to Iceland as his final strong hold was eliminated. Hermione's father stormed his way to victory in the next turn by decimating Hermione's troops in Ukraine and then the game was over.

Hermione's parents then left to pack for the evening as Hermione took the opportunity to explain to Gellert how the microwave worked as she reheated their takeaway curries. He watched in fascination as the dish spun in the oven, then jumped when the machine pinged after a minute.

Her parents rejoined them and Gellert quickly switched off the blender and stepped casually away from the counter.

'Are we ready to go?' He asked politely, picking up his briefcase and drawing his wand. Both of her parents looked at it with trepidation, but he simply cast a featherlight charm on their bags and led the way past them out of the doorway.

They caught a taxi to the crown hotel, then asked for the key to room number nine at the main reception desk. The receptionist looked them over with a lazy eye, then handed a tacky golden card over the desk and drawled the directions to them. Up the staircase, left at the balcony, across the walkway and back down into the second building, third door on the left.

As it was, the directions were nowhere near as simple and it took them almost fifteen minutes to navigate through the packed, complex corridors. The third door on the left was the most conspicuous entrance to the wizarding world that Hermione had ever seen. A large bronze door with "suite 9" emblazoned across it in swirling black letters. Her parents noticed it easily, so there were no anti-muggle defences on it. In fact, the only protection against muggles seemed to be the key card that Hermione had to demonstrate to Gellert how to swipe.

The doors opened with a pleasant ding and the family made their way through into a wizarding shopping mall. A shop selling Snarefin saddles and snorkels was on the left, another shop sold clothing and the next sold extendable tents. The broom shop seemed uninterested in the usual fare of racing brooms, instead focusing on a bewildering array of sunshades, umbrellas, padded seats and hand warmers.

Gellert led them past all this to a cafe called 'The bewitched broomstick'. It was a warm, homely place, modelled around an old cottage with faux stone walls and low ceilings. They didn't stop to order though, instead making their way to the fireplace.

'We're going to the Shipwreck hotel.' He told them, gesturing to the tarnished brass plaque above the fireplace. Then without a backwards glance he stepped into the fireplace and was gone in a roar of purple flames. Jean screamed, then quickly slapped her hand over her mouth, looking around sheepishly.

'I'll go next.' Hermione's dad said bravely, stepping up to the fireplace. He gulped audibly before stepping under the mantel and disappearing with a whoosh. Hermione's mother went next, needing almost a minute to calm herself enough to go in. Then Hermione followed after enough of a gap for her mother to leave the fireplace on the other side.

She emerged into a genuine shipwreck. The fireplace exited into the captain's cabin of an old wooden ship. Water bulged against some variant of the bubble head charm in all the windows, reflections obscuring the view outside. A receptionist sat behind a table, already in discussion with Gellert as her parents looked around in awe. A bell tinkled, and the door behind her opened, a steward in a crisp uniform walking out. He bowed to them and with his eyes carefully averted explained that he was about to perform the charm on them.

Grindelwald went first, the Steward still keeping his eyes averted as he tapped the dark wizard on the head. Then both her parents had their turns, gasping as an unknown sensation accompanied the magic. Hermione was last, the spell suctioning onto her skin like a wetsuit. It felt supremely uncomfortable at first, but the sensation soon faded as they were each given a pair of flippers. Then the steward cast a charm on their bags, politely offering to shrink her mother and fathers.

Once that was done, he opened the other door in the room and stepped through the air bubble. Hermione shared a long look with her parents, despite Gellert's assurances there was still something deeply unsettling about intentionally going out into an unknown depth of water with no scuba diving gear.

It was incredible. Once she plucked up the courage to leave, she found herself swimming between sunken ships. The corals that grew across every surface glowed with a gentle azure light, phosphorescent trails of green bubbles marked the paths of fish which dipped in between the towers of kelp. The sponges seemed a deep purple in the ghostly lighting, small shellfish flitted like black shadows between nuclei of waving fronds. They swam underneath the stern of an old steamer, meandering around huge propellers that loomed out of the darkened water and floated in a current up a hill to where a sailing ship leant against a boulder.

She followed the steward as he swum up the side of the ship and drifted over the railings to the deck. He showed them to the hatch, using the soft red glow of his wand tip to point out the handle. It seemed incredibly light for such a solid piece of wood as he slid it open and pointed to the ladder.

Hermione floated down the ladder, using the rungs to propel herself to the lower decks. She barely had time to take in the immaculately preserved interior before the steward was off again, taking them on a silent tour of the ship – bedrooms, kitchenette, spa, living room, pull this cord for service, please don't feed the sharks.

Then they were finally left to explore the softly glowing decks. She swum with Gellert past rows of tarnished cannons, fronds of gently waving forkweed brushed her fingers as she pushed through into the floor below. This one was darker, fewer of the glowing corals grew here. She considered using her wand but didn't trust the salt water not to damage it. Instead, she stayed close to the windows where the patches of light were thicker. Gellert strayed further, confirming Hermione's theory that he'd enhanced his night vision somehow. Even staying close to the windows there was so much to see. Tables were pushed up against open port holes, plates and cutlery scattered across the floor. A sludgy pile of heavy canvas was folded in the back near the stairway, about half way along the ship was the cause of her sinking. A massive rent where something had hit the side of her, splintered wood still lying across the deck whilst a door had been nailed hastily across half the gap; dropped tools and buckets evidence of the crew's desperate battle to save their ship.

Haunted, Hermione quickly swam back to the stairs. Gellert joined her as she climbed up and they stepped through the bubble into the dry living area. Hermione's parents were already waiting, both exhausted by the evening's events.

'Thank you Gellert, this place is incredible.' Hermione hugged him quickly, the dark wizard hesitated, surprised by the sudden contact before wrapping his arms around her in return. He released her first but she still considered the physical contact to be a victory. He usually only allowed physical contact if it served a purpose.


	45. Chapter 45

It took several minutes for the muted blue light to make sense when Hermione awoke the next morning. The events of the previous evening flooded back to her and she was suddenly wide awake. She pushed back the silky blue sheets of the bed, and dressed in a muggle summer dress. Gellert wouldn't approve but if he was going to "court" her he'd have to get used to her modern dress sense.

She deliberately left the robes in her beaded bag alone when she left, finding Gellert unsurprisingly already awake in the living area. She was pleasantly surprised to see that he had done the same, looking incredibly uncomfortable in a pair of swimming shorts and a t-shirt. He flicked his wand to make her a drink and they settled into the sumptuous breakfast that had been provided by the hotel.

Hermione's parents joined them half way through, granting her the opportunity to reintroduce them to pumpkin juice.

They then spent a leisurely morning exploring the ship and its surroundings. Gellert seemed to share none of her reservations about using his wand underwater; although it would probably take much more than a bit of salt to destroy the elder wand. He cast a spell that created ghostly figures of the old crew as they desperately tried to save their ship.

They watched it like a film as another ship hit the side of them, both crews shouting in different languages as they pulled apart. The bosun and his mates desperately tried to patch the hole, nailing doors, planks, tabletops to the gap. Stuffing sailcloth and hammocks into the gaps and packing in thick tar as the water level rose to their chests. Finally, as one of the nailed on doors imploded back into the ship under the pressure, the call to abandon ship came. The family swum up on deck to watch as the crew lowered life boats and rowed away.

A visiting shark finally broke the illusion, nosing between the jagged mast tops and snapping at a passing tuna. With their ship explored, they floated over the side and explored the reef. A passing steward took a photo of them posing next to the propeller of a huge steamer.

They checked out once their legs were exhausted from all the swimming and feeling very airy after the spell was lifted in the foyer, flooed back to the cafe. Gellert treated them all to a coffee and cake, then Hermione's parents became enraptured by the magical medicine section of the book shop as she selected several ancient runes texts to read when she arrived home.

They spent hours in the book shop, then Hermione's parents returned the favour by taking them around muggle Melbourne. They ate lunch in china town and visited the apple store, which sold computers that were unbelievably thin. She could only conclude that it was dark magic which kept him young that was what blew the fuse on all the models he touched. Eventually, the mystified shop manager asked them to leave, offering them a gift card as an apology.

A familiar ginger cat was waiting for them at the tram station outside the Granger household. Hermione swept him up into a hug, amazed that the cat had followed her orders to take care of her parents. He hissed and batted her in the face and Hermione dropped him with a cry. Crookshanks clawed at her bare legs, and twisted in circles.

Grindelwald drew his wand.

'Look, the lights are on.' He murmured, pushing the muggles gently behind him. Hermione drew hers too and took the now familiar position at his shoulder. They approached slowly and she felt a ripple of his magic scan the house for wards.

She quickly flicked her wand, casting notice-me-not charms on them and the house. It wouldn't do to start an international incident over some paranoia.

They crept slowly closer, Gellert kept scanning the house as they drew closer, ripples of his dark magic making her hair stand on end. Someone moved behind the lace privacy curtains, maybe alerted by that same tingling. Gellert signalled to her parents to take cover behind the trees in the park and Hermione continued up the path with him alone.

The irony of this situation stuck her randomly, she was less nervous approaching an unknown intruder than she had been reintroducing herself to her parents.

They had just climbed the stairs when bright flashes lit up the night; the door opened, yellow light flaring across the garden and almost simultaneously scarlet flashed, lighting up the street. Grindelwald's opponent fell with a dull thump as Hermione caught the wand. Almost without pause, Hermione turned and sent a series of bright lights into the sky, imitating fireworks. With the muggles distracted and looking up, there would be no police arriving as they dealt with the intruder.

They approached cautiously, wands out as Hermione's fireworks crackled and boomed above them. The house remained almost entirely silent and Crookshanks slipped between their legs to go inside.

The intruder was a gangly wizard wearing pristine dark robes. He lay in a heap on the floor, a fold of his robe thrown over his head to reveal a pair of expensive trousers in severe need of ironing. Whichever wizard had invaded her home clearly didn't know even basic household spells. Gellert levitated the arm that had been thrown up with the robe and pulled down the sleeve with his fingertips as if touching rubbish.

There was no dark mark, just smooth, pale skin interspersed with large freckles. Hermione grabbed the cloak and tore it down, exposing the face of her ex best friend. Even unconscious, he looked colder with a careful, tough blankness that the course beard exaggerated. His red hair was longer, a bleached blond chunk sweeping back from his forehead into the tail at the nape of his neck. His clothing was expensive but he wore the formal attire as badly as always, which was only emphasised by the crispness with which she had become accustomed to in the company of Gellert and the Malfoys.

Grindelwald's upper lip curled and he raised his wand. Hermione threw out her arm to stop the inevitable curse. She needed to know why Ron had come all the way to Australia, if he had actually intended harm upon her parents, she would be sure to act on the threats she had made last time they were face to face.


	46. Chapter 46

Her parents hadn't argued when Gellert told them to pack their essentials. There was just something about his demeanour that couldn't be argued with when he changed from charming boyfriend to the Grindelwald the public saw. Less than an hour later and they were back on the yacht to the Australian Ministry of Magic.

The tropical island was deserted and they hurried their way up the moonlit sand between darkened beach huts. A single light was on and the friendly border guard they had met on their way in waited for them, still blinking sleep out of his eyes and with his robe on inside out. Hermione had no idea how Gellert had contacted him but she was more concerned with the unconscious prisoner that she levitated in front of her and how he had managed to find them.

Mr. Baiter seemed more than a little curious at the bound and disguised man but he was wisely quiet at the look Grindelwald sent him. The man fumbled through the paperwork, flicking his wand at the black pebble. He paused slightly over the Grangers' muggle passports but shrugged and entered the random numbers into the boxes on his form. Gellert smiled and passed a set of tickets to the hotel they'd just stayed at to him in return.

'For that wife problem, you'll find this helps.' The dark wizard hinted and Baiter's face lit up. He looked much happier as he cast the necessary spells on the stone and they all touched it with their hands. Just in case Hermione cast a sticking charm on her parent's hands and then the last thing she saw was Geoff smiling happily at the two tickets as they were whisked away.

They landed in the forest outside the wards, a carpet of dropped leaves breaking their fall. For several seconds, Hermione just lay on the ground gathering her composure before she sat up to see how the other passengers had fared.

It seemed autumn had arrived whilst they were away; the trees had dropped their leaves and bare skeletal branches reached up into the grey, cloudy sky. The occasional leaf still clung to the limbs, curled in on itself like a cocoon. The ground they lay on was a spongy russet mattress and she found herself sinking in it up to her calves.

A cold wind whipped around her; blowing through the light summer dress she had been wearing in Australia. She rubbed her arms and looked around to get her bearings, noticing the snow that already capped the mountains. Nurmengard speared the sky over the trees to her left, the dark shape standing out starkly and rippling with potent magic which clashed with the ambience of nature.

Her parents couldn't see the castle of course and proved the muggle repelling charm worked by deciding to buy some new climbing gear and heading off down the mountain. Hermione quickly apparated in front of them and seized both their hands, dragging them up to the castle determinedly.

'Hermione, you're a witch.' Gellert reminded her, disappearing with a crack. Hermione huffed and did the same, embarrassed at having almost walked the entire way to the fortress.

She appeared in the living area – one of the benefits of being the lady of the house. She could apparate in with people whenever she wanted without arriving in the cells. Her parents took a moment to recover from the unexpected travel, then stared around them in wonder. She watched them taking in the view from the massive windows, which had changed from earth browns and greys to stark black and white. The sunlight reflected brightly of the crisp peaks and pierced the shadows of the room. A fire roared in the grate even this early in the morning and blankets had appeared, folded on the seat of every armchair. The table was clear of research for the first time since Hermione had moved in, her own work on Salazar tidied away in her room and Gellert's various projects probably pinned to his walls. The absence of mess emphasised the pristine glass display cases filled with priceless objects and the wall-to-wall bookshelves of ancient books.

She settled them into the living area, pointed them in the direction of the library (their expressions when she told them that the living room was not the library were priceless) and introduced them to Narcissa quickly. The older witch seemed to have a sixth sense for Hermione's wardrobe because she appeared with a rich, fur lined winter gown for Hermione to shrug on and had performed a spell to calm her curls before she had even finished reassuring them about Nagini who was basking in front of the fire.

To her surprise, Gellert instigated contact when she arrived, placing a quick supportive kiss on her temple and taking her hand. They entered the cell together where Ron was unconscious and bound to a chair.

She rennervated him before she could think better of it and found herself almost imitating Bellatrix with her imperious expression. Grindelwald leaned back against the wall, clearly in Ron's line of sight but out of the way. The red-head blinked slowly and moaned, Hermione straightened her spine and lifted her chin. He tried to rub his eyes, realised they were bound, then awakened fully with a jerk, thrashing in his bindings.

Finally, he seemed to come to his senses and suddenly blurted out his nickname for her, searching wildly until his eyes came to rest on her. He squinted for a second then sighed her name in relief.

'Hermione, I tried to send a patronus. You've got to do something, she'd taken over the ICW.' He proclaimed and the witch frowned in confusion, glancing uncertainly at Grindelwald. This seemed like such a nonsensical answer that it threw her; she'd been expecting angry words or even begged apologies.

The dark wizard stepped forwards with an almost eager step, raising his wand and hitting the redhead square in the chest with a red bolt. Hermione flinched, expecting a screams but was surprised when nothing happened. Ron did the same, seeming to steel himself in a way she'd never seen before. Instead, when Grindelwald coldly asked him what he'd been doing in Australia. To both the younger witch and wizard's surprise, Ron started babbling out the entire story.

He'd left Nurmengard and tried to return to the burrow to help with repairs, only to be turned away by his furious mother when she arrived the next morning. Mrs. Weasley had said that she was ashamed to call him her son and that she couldn't believe his selfishness after everything the family had been through. She'd said it would serve him right to find his own home.

A week later, Ron had been replicating food at a muggle cafe to make himself at least feel full when he'd been found by a dark haired beauty. She was clearly a witch and she'd greeted him as a hero and seemed to share his hatred of dark wizards. She'd offered him food and shelter and he'd agreed, even as she explained her current experiments.

She'd explained how she had discovered a way to separate the ability to perform dark magic from someone and had offered to do the spell on Hermione if he could bring her to her. She'd already explained how she had managed to use her mother's ID to rescue Grindelwald from the ICW and had managed to reform him into a light wizard. The young witch even had the newspaper clipping of the dark wizard looking after the orphans as proof.

Ron had joined her wholeheartedly, but quickly realised that her 'cure' just mutilated the minds of the dark wizards that she had broken out of Azkaban. They couldn't perform dark magic, but then they couldn't do anything without seeking her approval, almost like children. He'd delved into her research, determined to find the flaw and bring his 'Mione back but found nothing, even as it became clear that his new friend was fanatically obsessed with destroying darkness. She was even convinced that the ICW had been corrupted when Grindelwald was pardoned and had hatched a plan to take it. A plan that she had launched tonight with her army of ex-dark wizards.

Ron had sent a patronus to Hermione to warn her, which had then returned to him when it couldn't reach her. He'd checked the newspaper, knowing that there was almost certain to be a report on her whereabouts. There hadn't been, but there was an article on Grindelwald visiting the international transport office. From there he had found it simple to deduce that as both were powerful wizards, they must be going very far abroad to not be able to apparate. Once he guessed that they were finding Hermione's parents it had only taken a couple of confundus charms on a muggle border force authority to get the address.

Grindelwald asked him a few more questions about the plan and its execution but Hermione was distracted. She had just finished what felt like two wars, now it seemed she was about to be thrust into another. For a moment, she considered just sitting back and letting this crazy French witch take over. Nurmengard was impenetrable, Lichtenstein was independent of international law, she could just hide behind the mighty doors and let someone else do the work this time.

Then she remembered the family in the airport, the border force guard and all those people that must have petitioned their governments to free Gellert. She knew that she was a powerful witch, Grindelwald was an army in and of himself. She was in a position to make a change and it would be poor thanks to sit back and let those that had supported her suffer under a tyrannical rule. Innocents would be persecuted, people who would flourish under a second chance would have their minds torn.

'We have to help them Gellert.' Hermione interrupted and the dark wizard glanced at her across the room. He rolled his eyes dramatically, heaving a sigh and flicked his wand to free Ron.

'No funny business.' He growled, poking the younger wizard in the back. Ron nodded hurriedly, and scurried out of the prison cell as the door opened.


	47. Chapter 47

Hermione followed the pair with long strides that rung down the corridor in perfect concert with Gellert's. She caught up, ready for the instructions that he would inevitably rattle off but none came. They stalked the entire way through the building and to the intelligence room. Hermione managed to ignore Ron although he was beneath her as they waited for him to re-emerge from towering, mazelike shelves.

Surprisingly the red-head seemed content to act meekly and faded into the background. Unfortunately, this change made her actually pay more attention to him and she tried to watch him without making it obvious. Awake, his face seemed older and sterner. His goofy expression had hardened and the playful quirk was missing from his lips. Instead, he surveyed the room calculatingly, his eyes rested on Hermione and he observed her for several seconds. She tried not to shift uncomfortably, suddenly glad that Narcissa had dressed her in her brief visit to the rooms.

She could feel him looking at the way the robes showed off her figure, how the hair products the older witch had supplied had begun to work their magic in taming her hair. The memory from Gellert twinkled at her throat and his bracelet on her wrist was radiant even in the dim room. She could have passed for a high society pureblooded witch with her carefully blank expression of disdain

Gellert returned after far too long with by far the thickest file she'd ever seen in this room. He slammed it down on the small table in the corner and pulled out pages. He flicked past most of them, only pulling out the plans for Hermione to see.

The building was horrifically complex; the floors weren't actually in any order, instead a system similar to a floo magically transported people to departments randomly spaced throughout the castle among the muggle sections. If they wanted to move through the magical building, they'd have to either hijack the floo-door system or use the muggle passages.

'What about Dumbledore?' Ron finally interjected as they discussed this problem. 'Marinette planned to use her mother's ID to get through all the doors, I bet they never deactivated Dumbledore's'

For a moment the two hardened commanders just stared blankly at him, then Gellert disappeared with a crack. Seconds later he reappeared and Hermione could only assume that he had spoken to his old nemesis' portrait because he immediately side-along apparated them all to the Hogwarts gates. He cursed them open, melting the metal and dissolving the wards that had been temporarily erected around the school as it was prepared. Hermione grabbed at his arm, protesting as they hurried up the driveway even as she sent of her patronus to explain to McGonagall.

'We need to hurry. Every minute they're there, the more chance that they might deactivate all the old keys.' Gellert explained, but he did recast the wards as Hermione and Ron levitated the broken slabs off Dumbledore's empty grave. The interior was virtually empty; Voldemort had plundered his wand, then later his body which had eventually been incinerated by Grindelwald. Fortunately, his personal effects were still there which Gellert swept into Hermione's beaded bag before she could see more than an old book and a photograph. He held aside a gold crest on a pendant, the letters emblazoned across it a clear sign that it was the key they were looking for.

They returned to Nurmengard to pick up the map and left a quick message for Harry.

Hermione apparated them both to the ICW headquarters which were as disturbingly quiet as the last time she had visited. The desk was empty this time and they hurried past only to be foiled as to how to activate the gate.

'I didn't see it happen when I visited you.' Hermione admitted, inspecting the walls around the doorway.

'Well, the guard must have done it from his desk, try there.' Gellert instructed and Ron ducked behind the podium. A triumphant cry alerted them to his success and Hermione tossed him the medallion. Nothing changed visually, but then nothing had changed when Hermione first visited, so she led the way, linking hands with her two allies and plunging into the dark space.

They emerged in a massive circular briefing room which had been decimated by battle. Burning furniture, melted stone and a thick blue haze seeping from under one barracks door but there were no obvious survivors. They called out as they checked every room – apart from the ominous blue one, then used the medallion to reappear in the security room. This one also bore signs of the brunt of battle, the delicate runes that sustained the magical transportation system and warding had been protected but the monitors position was frozen over and the snow covered chair was empty.

Then they moved to the courtroom, the heart of the ICW. Light flashed brightly and there was a loud bang as soon as they entered but there was no impact on the shields that Hermione and Gellert constantly wore. Instead, the panel for the medallion was decimated, effectively preventing their escape.

'Well, Well, I did so 'ope you would visit.' The speaker was a small witch, certainly no older than Ginny. She wore a muggle evening dress, cream satin hugging her curves and narrow straps criss-crossing her tanned skin. She pointed to some of her white robed minions and gestured in their direction. Five large figures stepped forwards and Hermione flung a curse in the witch's direction.

Nothing happened.

Her wand was torn from her hand as peals of laughter echoed through the room from the enchantress opposite them. Beside her, Gellert fought as his arms were wrestled behind his back and held there.

'Miss Granger, I expected better, magic cannot be performed in this room. I expected you to know that au moins.' The woman tutted, gliding towards them and dragging one talon like crimson nail across Hermione's face, 'a shame, you could have been so much.'

The witch moved on to Ron and again that laugh tinkled out as dug her fingers into the soft spot behind his jaw, forcing the redhead to look up at her.

'I offered you everything you ever wanted, Ronald. Why did you throw it away for a girl who doesn't even return your feelings?' The girl sulked, pouting her crimson lips. 'Her darkness must have corrupted you. I will have to perform the ritual on you as well now.'

With a wave of her hand, the white robes witches and wizards moved, creating a path from them to the collection of ICW prisoners in the floor of the courtroom. Most of them were sitting vacantly, staring out into space. One man was drooling and an old lady drew pictures in the carpet.

'You see? They are innocent. No longer capable of dark magic.' The witch said as they were marched towards them. 'You will be my ultimate achievement.' The witch raised her wand, beginning a chant that sounded like a hymn. Around her, wands were raised as the white robes witches and wizards joined in, moaning like a zombie hoard as she sang. Hermione took a deep breath, wishing bitterly that they had taken the time to realise this entire thing was a trap.


	48. Chapter 48

The wand was levelled straight at her; all she could think was how stupid they'd been. It would have taken minutes to get backup; Harry and Neville could have the order assembled in moments but instead they'd decided to try alone believing one schoolgirl couldn't possibly stand against the two of them.

She should have known about this stupid room as well, asked Dumbledore's portrait or even looked more closely when they were in the security rooms. They could have deactivated this spell then and never gotten into this mess.

They had become arrogant and now they would meet their fates.

An explosion shattered the chanting. Several of the white robed wizards were blown across the room, bowling over others in their path before they were peppered with shards of stone and debris. Without hesitation, Grindelwald twisted out of his captor's grasp, using the distraction to wrestle his wand from one of the other spectators. Hermione had no idea who had her wand but she tried to imitate Gellert's move. She ended up twisting her shoulder, then the man holding her gave a loud ompf and crumpled, releasing her as he went. She spun to see Ron breathing heavily and holding both their wands.

She thanked him and took her wand back just as whomever had blown open the wall finally managed to bring down whatever enchantment was stopping the magic by blowing a cavity in the floor.

Whoever was on the outside gave a raucous battlecry and bodies surged through the gap. Brooms whizzed above their heads and Hermione threw herself into the frenzy. She quickly found Gellert's dark presence and he automatically adjusted for her as they stood back to back.

As soon as they made contact, Hermione felt her magic meshing with his, familiar after so long fighting together. When she lashed out with a surge of fire, Gellert's magic went too, flaring along with her own into a deadly arc. Gellert blew a hole in his opponents and her magic pulsed out like a shockwave from the blast. It was a bond she had seen shared by Lupin and Tonks, one of intimate familiarity and comfort in one another's presence.

They worked together perfectly, Hermione compensating for him when one of Gellert's opponents surprised him by successfully mustering a shield. He knew exactly when a sudden surge in opponents focusing on her meant he needed to turn and back her up. They were a deadly duo, bodies piling up around them only to be consumed by trails of fire and gases.

It was over almost too soon, although Hermione was certain that the joy in destruction was Grindelwald's influence. Finally she could see flashes of her friends between the ex-dark wizards; Luna waved and Ginny sent her two thumbs up. Neville had lost his wand somewhere and was wrestling with Crabbe. Lupin and Tonks were furiously protecting the childlike ICW wizards, one of whom was trying his utmost to eat a disarmed soldier's wand.

The last opponent fell in a burst of red light and suddenly Harry was standing there, panting heavily with a relieved grin on his face. It seemed of the trio he was the only one to remain innocent.

'We thought we would come and help.' The young hero laughed and Hermione hugged him gratefully.

Gellert waited patiently until they pulled apart before sweeping her into his arms and holding her in an almost bone crushing hug.

'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have known.' The dark wizard apologised repeatedly, mumbling into her chaotic hair.

'It's not your fault. I should have known better too. Next time, let's do the research and plan it out. This was stupid.'

'No, we're never doing this again.' Grindelwald growled darkly, his magic wrapping threateningly around his promise. 'The next person to try and break the peace will discover just how I became the darkest wizard of the century.'

The atmosphere after this fight was almost jovial, order members laughed as they performed counter curses on one another, quickly discovering that fighting an army programmed to never use dark magic was actually very easy. After all, without dark magic, no lasting effects could be caused. They had no casualties, except maybe Neville who'd been punched in the face by Crabbe and broken his nose.

Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that with the ICW all but destroyed, there was nobody to organise the cleanup of this international event. Really though, it was no different to any other battle that she'd fought. She sent Molly Weasley to fetch St. Mungo's and Lupin to fetch Kingsley. Then she left Gellert to organise the recently arrived healers as she went to give a press conference.

By the time she got back, the last of the ICW wizards was being taken into the care of the medi-witches and Grindelwald was assuring the concerned head healer that they would communicate internationally to reduce the workload on his staff.

A squad of aurors had arrived to arrest Marinette, a satisfied looking Ron informed them that the drooling girl's enchantment had backfired and she'd cursed herself to be free of all evil intent. Grindelwald happily volunteered to keep her in custody in Nurmengard's cells and Hermione noted that she'd have to keep an eye on the girl. There was something in his countenance that suggested he was planning to teach her exactly what happened when you messed with a dark wizard.

Seeing that everything was taking care of itself, Hermione greeted her friends briefly and they exchanged plans to catch up later, then took Gellert's hand and apparated them both back to Nurmengard where she planned to remain for the foreseeable future.

Narcissa and Draco stayed long enough to make sure they were both healthy, then Narcissa conveniently remembered that she wanted to show the Grangers the grounds. The four left quickly, allowing the new couple to spend some time together uninterrupted.

Gellert dropped into a chair with a heavy groan and Hermione moved behind him, massaging his shoulders.

'That was such a foolish mistake.' The dark wizard sighed, shaking his head and Hermione's thoughts returned to self recrimination again.

'It was. Is this okay?' Hermione pressed her fingers into his knotted shoulders. His pleased moan was answer enough.

'I should have learned after that duel with Dumbledore.'

'That was a long time ago. What do you think will happen now?'

'I think you will become Supreme Mugwump.' Gellert said nonchalantly, pulling Hermione down onto his lap. She giggled girlishly, then coughed as she realised that she'd just sounded like Lavender Brown.

'Don't be ridiculous.' She sighed, trailing off as he kissed her neck.

'Okay. We'll spend tomorrow morning researching a magical creature to breed in the grounds. I thought thestrals would really go with the atmosphere; unicorns would be a little more tricky to introduce. I think Hagrid would be happy to introduce them.' He trailed kisses up her throat and she restrained another giggle as his moustache brushed her chin.

'Hippogriffs. They like rocky landscapes.'

'Sure. We'll see about getting the beginnings of a herd tomorrow morning then. In the afternoon, I imagine you'd like to see Ginny and Harry.' Gellert stopped, just holding her close to him.

'What about long term though?' Hermione asked persistently, no longer so distracted.

'Well, Tonks is due to give birth soon, so I suspect the relevant events for that. Harry and Ginny will probably set a date soon, so a wedding there. Your NEWTs are around Christmas time, I rather thought I might take them too; finally finish my education. Then I suppose you have that job offer in the ministry to take up.' He pressed back into the chair so that he could look at her.

'A normal life then.' Hermione asked uncertainly and the dark wizard laughed.

'Hardly, it's not exactly normal to be deputy minister at eighteen.'


	49. Chapter 49

**Epilogue**

Hermione stood on the balcony, enjoying the early morning sun as she watched Neville magically growing vines over his wedding marquee. She had never actually expected this day to come, assuming that the two would remain unofficial partners forever. Then she was hardly one to judge of course, she'd been engaged to Grindelwald for eight years before they finally married. Gellert hadn't wanted to enter into a magically binding marriage until they knew exactly what would happen when his immortality wore off, for fear that he'd revert to his true age and Hermione would end up married to an old man.

It had taken her that long to persuade him that she really wasn't interested in how old he looked and that she'd known from the moment she considered a life with a dark wizard that having his kids wouldn't be a possibility anyway.

Her own wedding had been perfect; not that Narcissa Malfoy would have allowed it to be anything else. Between her mother and the Malfoy Lady, she had the perfect compromise between the small wedding that she'd always wanted and the public affair that the world demanded. The wedding had taken place in the grounds in front of the castle, attended by only her family and friends. The reception had taken place in Nurmengard's ballroom and it seemed every witch and wizard in the world had been invited to attend.

Of course, it had been front cover in every newspaper around the world for almost a month either side of the event and the daily prophet had even run a special edition on it. Not that that was unexpected when the Minister for Magic married the Supreme Mugwump.

A smile crossed Hermione's lips as she remembered the day that Gellert had received that title. Not a week after their liberation of the ICW, he'd received the first owl asking him to take up the position. He hadn't actually believed they were being genuine until a petition with more than two thousand names arrived a month later begging him to take up the position. They'd had a good laugh with Dumbledore's portrait about it later that evening but despite his doubts, Gellert had so far done a stellar job forcing the wizarding world into the 21st Century.

Footsteps pattered up the corridor behind her and she reached out with her magic to find out who was coming. The bright ball of energy was almost unmistakable; Lily Potter burst out onto the balcony seconds later, waving a letter around frantically. Hermione smiled, her hand coming up to hold the pendant she wore, even as she turned to face the young girl.

'What is it Lily?' She asked kindly and the young witch thrust the letter towards her.

'A letter from Albus, Auntie Hermione, he says he's arrived at school safely.' Hermione smiled as she took the letter, seeing that it was indeed true. The letter was several pages long and she drank in every word as the boy described the voyage up the coast to the school and the boys he would be sharing a dormitory with this year.

Albus Grindelwald was the youngest of the Nurmengard children by several years. Where the others had all been orphaned in the wizarding war, Albus had been brought to them by the aurors several years later when they'd finally managed to capture Greyback.

Of course, the issue had been brought to Hermione immediately; they could hardly expect St. Mungo's to raise the child and no family would adopt a werewolf child. Of course, just because she had come to terms with never being able to bear Gellert's child didn't mean she didn't want one, so she'd leapt at the opportunity and the orphan boy had been named Albus Grindelwald before the sun set that same evening.

The first month had been the most difficult, before the two of them successfully mastered their animagus forms but from then on it had become almost easy. She could almost believe it was some form of divine intervention because as he grew it became evident that Albus was just as intelligent and powerful as his namesake and he was every bit as academic as his adopted parents.

It had been the hardest moment of Hermione's life to finally let him board the ship to Durmstrang. Albus was by no means the first Nurmengard child to attend Durmstrang, so he wasn't the first she had seen off on the ship but he was the only one that she had raised herself. Fortunately, it seemed every parent at the ministry knew exactly what she was feeling and had conspired to make that week the busiest of her career.

'Shall we go and tell Uncle Gellert before your parents arrive to pick you up?' She asked the little girl, reaching down to hold her hand and lead her down to the library. Of course, by the time they'd actually managed to make their way down the many flights of stairs to the library, Lily's parents had arrived and relieved Hermione of the girl, taking her back to their floor for dinner.

Hermione continued alone, pushing open the massive doors of the library. They swung open on perfectly balanced hinges at her touch and the warm silence of the library enveloped her. The second library at Nurmengard was the biggest archive of dark texts in the world; Draco had donated several shelves from the Malfoy manor and Grindelwald had used his influence as Supreme Mugwump to "liberate" several more from the estates of death eaters. He'd even managed to introduce a piece of legislation that registered the library as a "public resource" which meant that he could legally keep them.

Hermione slipped between the shadowy shelves, following the nucleus of darkness that was her husband's presence. She found him with a stack of books hovering behind him as he ran one finger down the titles on the shelves.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed a gentle kiss on his neck. The dark wizard paused and she knew that he was smiling and he relaxed into her.

'Albus sent a letter. He's arrived at Durmstrang.' She held the letter out and he took it, reading it quickly. 'He didn't mention any friends.' Hermione worried, releasing Gellert as he turned to face her.

'He'll be fine. You'll love his girlfriend.' The dark wizard waved his hand and the books he'd selected zipped into his briefcase and Hermione gaped at him.

'I suppose you've had another vision.'

'Naturally.' He said as he turned back to the shelves.

'Still researching dementors?' Hermione asked as Gellert pulled a guide to illegal beast breeding from the shelves and added it to his selections with a sound like a zipper being done up. He jerked his head in the affirmative and they discussed his theories as to how to permanently bind a soulless creature.

They were still discussing that when they arrived back in their private living quarters. Gellert handed her one of the books and she smiled at him as she opened it and began reading. A house elf popped in several minutes later with a hot chocolate for them both and Hermione smiled. She had never imagined that she'd end up here when she first freed Grindelwald from his cell but she was very glad it had. She pulled the letter from Albus back out and read it again, a smile on her face as she tried to imagine the girlfriend her husband had seen.

 **Ladies and Gentlemen and anyone who identifies otherwise, thank you for all your support and reviews. I've finished this adventure now which wouldn't have been possible without your feedback. Gellert and Hermione have managed to make peace and earn Gellert's freedom. There will probably be many more adventures in the One-Shots fic so keep an eye on that.**

 **I will probably come back and do some editing/minor rewrites to fix continuity/spelling/grammar issues.**

 **Thanks,**

 **Bey.**


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